Heist
by KuriQuinn
Summary: Kai Hiwatari is tired of being his grandfathers’ stooge. But the old man won’t let him go without one last job, one Kai would have refused if it weren’t for the ultimatum Voltaire is now holding over him. But the group he's sent to work with...
1. Chapter One

**_Heist_**

Title: Heist

Author: KuriQuinn

Rating: R (for mature language and violence)

Summary: Kai Hiwatari is tired of being his grandfathers' stooge. But the old man won't let him go without one last job, one Kai would have refused if it weren't for the ultimatum Voltaire is now holding over him. He suddenly finds himself working with a group of the least likely individuals, all in it for the same reason…

Pairings: Kai/Chaya, Ray/Miyami, slight hints of Max/Tyson

Note: I changed Voltaire's last name, because I seriously doubt that it really is Hiwatari, considering he is supposed to be Russian. Hope y'all don't mind that.

* * *

Chapter One 

A young man of twenty-six walked briskly towards the large house on the hill, looking it over with cold crimson eyes. Although it was miraculously up kept with trimmed gardens and sanded stairs, it's shutters hung crooked, there were still cobwebs in the windows and when the lightening flashed the way it was doing now, the only thing to come to mind was a haunted mansion from some decrepit horror movie.

Mihkail Hiwatari hated this house. Hated it with a passion, in fact. He had been trying to escape it all his life, to no avail. His grandfather always seemed to be one step ahead of him when it came to that.

Vladimir Oreskovic, known to his colleagues as Voltaire, was a powerful man, who craved more power as time went on. He had started out the owner of a prominent business in Russia, but used his manipulative ways to gain more support and influence in other countries. Money, as always, was the reason for his sudden decision to move to Japan, a move he forever rued and appreciated in his old age. For it was here that his work in the buying, collection and sale of ancient artefacts (whether legal or not) began to flourish. He became a power-hungry tycoon whose name was upon the lips of every serious business in the world. Things were going wonderfully for the man…that is, until his daughter and only child, disobeyed his wishes and married a man of sub-acceptable standards.

She and the man, a certain Kenta Hiwatari, had two children before they died in a drunk-driving accident a few years later. The culprit responsible was never found, though Kai was certain his grandfather had something to do with it. He was even more convinced that the old man had meant for him and his younger sister Talya to be in the car as well.

Voltaire had only taken them in because doing so would boost his popularity with the press. Behind the doors of the mansion, he had treated both of them like the lower classes. If it wasn't for their ability to learn things quickly, he'd probably have thrown them out in the streets when no one was looking. Kai had further made their stay permanent when it was clear that he had a very unique talent.

Voltaire had been most surprised when a few times he had found the young Hiwatari sitting in front of the open wall-safe in his room, after he was distinctly sure that he had closed it. When it happened the third time, he had the security tuned to his room where he watched in amazement as the young boy easily cracked the code of the lock. Ever since then, he had spared no expense to have Kai trained extensively in breaking an entering, those who taught him, of course, suddenly going missing in the near future.

Since the age of fifteen, his grandfather had used him to gain entry to the property of potential rivals, and gain information, wealth and even more with his talented fingers.

Kai rapped on the large oak door with the lion-head knocker, and then raised his free hand to push a loose strand of slate-coloured hair out of his eyes.

He had no idea why he continued to humour Voltaire. When he was younger, it was merely to keep the roof over his sister's and his head. Now it was because he had nowhere to go. It seemed Voltaire had once again used his power to his advantage, calling up every prospective employment or university and making sure they did not accept his grandson into their fold. But either way, he still had his inheritance from his father to contend with. The man, although poor, had left enough for Kai to leave Japan and start anew somewhere else.

'Too bad if I even try to get my hands on it, the old bastard will have it out from under my nose before you can say 'larceny',' the young man thought bitterly.

The door opened, revealing a tall, lanky old man with a scrunched up face and glowering expression.

"Young Hiwatari, the Master is awaiting you," he bowed, giving the slate-haired youth a long-suffering look.

"I'll bet he is," Kai replied coldly. "I'll see myself there, Olaf, thanks."

"Take heed, boy, he's in one of his moods," the man said silently, closing the heavy door.

Kai ignored him.

'When isn't the old bastard in one of his moods?' he asked himself as he climbed the grand-staircase two at a time to get to his grandfather's study. A small amount of light seeped under the door, illuminating the shadows in the dark hall-way.

Without warning, he pushed open the door of the study and entered, taking in his grandfather with hidden annoyance and hatred.

Voltaire Oreskovic was a giant of a man, six-foot-four, with shoulder length iron grey hair and chiselled features. His eyes were drawn into a permanent frown and his eyes glared out from sallow skin. Although pushing seventy, he was quite fit and a very imposing figure. Just looking at him made Kai want to leave; not because for fear of the man, but because of pure, unadulterated hatred.

"Ah, Mikhail, my boy," Voltaire chuckled in his subtly Russian accented voice, though his eyes held no trace of a smile. Kai closed the door behind him. "Back so soon? You're getting good…this has been the fastest you've cracked a code before." He bent over his desk for a moment and picked up a glass of what Kai was sure to be vodka, Voltaire's favourite drink. "I assume everything went off without a hitch? Anyone see you?"

"Two guards," Kai replied stiffly. "But I doubt they'll remember much when they wake up."

"Good, good," Voltaire murmured, taking a gulp of the foul liquid. "You got them then?"

With a sneer, Kai thrust the two file folders he had been holding in his left hand across the desk, watching them slide until Voltaire reached over and stopped them. His expression didn't change much, except now his eyes glinted with black pleasure.

"You've done well," he said in an oily voice. "But you did forget the – "

Kai plunged his hand into his pocket and tosses a small red object at Voltaire, who hurried to catch it. A star-shaped ruby could be seen as he held it up to the light to study.

"Be careful, boy," he said coolly. "You are messing with a quarter of a billion dollars here. Wouldn't want it to become damaged, would you?"

"Why not? It's not like I reap any benefits from your little plans."

"Of course you do…you are the most protected man in Japan, next to myself," Voltaire snorted, sitting down at his desk, his fingers still rubbing the precious gem. "If that is no benefit, I don't know what is."

"Whatever," Kai said under his breath.

"While you're here," the old man said, sitting up straighter, his free hand opening a drawer to his left where Kai knew all of his objectives came from. "I have a – "

"No."

Voltaire's hand paused in its movement, though the man did not look up. There was a silence in the room, and Kai knew that the man was waiting for an explanation of his outburst.

"I'm not doing your dirty work anymore, _Dedko_," he said quietly. "I refuse to help you bring down others any longer. I'm not getting anything out of it but the assurance that I won't be able to live my life without being in your shadow. So get a new safe-cracker, because I quit." (1)

The old man now raised an eyebrow, withdrawing his hand from the drawer and sitting up straight, fixing Kai in a calculating stare. "What are you saying, Kai?"

"Are you deaf? I'm done. I'm not cracking any more safes for you, I'm not taking out anymore guards and I'm not risking my ass to get arrested just for you," Kai said coldly.

Voltaire was quiet for a moment, studying the ruby now in his hands.

Of course Kai had expressed his displeasure at his job since he started, and he had threatened to quit several times. But this night was something different to Voltaire, because he recognized the steely tone of seriousness in his grandson's voice. He nodded gravely, seeming almost calm, although inwardly he was seething. How dare the boy even dream of something like this? After everything he, Voltaire, had done for the boy, this is how he repaid him? By wanting to leave him?

He cleared his throat.

"If that is how you feel about it," he said composedly, putting the gem down and folding his hands before him. "I have one more job for y – "

"No. No more jobs," Kai ordered. "I already told you, I'm done. I'm going to pack my stuff and get the hell out of here, I don't care if I forfeit being you're rich-kid grandson any more. And if you feel like sending one of your buddies from the mob to do away with me, go ahead, because I couldn't give a rat's ass."

Voltaire stood up, facing his grandson, his eyes cold, but a grim smile plastered to face.

"I see that you are serious about this," he murmured. Kai saw him reach behind the stack of papers, "It's quite a shame, Kai, and you had so much potential. And all I was asking was one last job. I had been keeping it from you because I didn't think you were ready, but you've proven to me – "

"Listen, old man, I don't want to hear it," Kai cut him off. "I am leaving and that's final."

"Dedko?"

Both men turned at the sound of the door opening, and a young woman stepped in, looking around with guarded eyes. Her expression fell on Kai and she broke into a broad smile which reached her warm crimson eyes.

"Kai, you're back!" she cried. "I thought you were – "

"Talya, come here," Voltaire said, motioning over with his hand. (2)

Confusion lighting in her eyes, Kai watched his sister move across the room. She was six years younger than he, and the person he loved most in the world. If he had to, he would die for Talya. She had only been a baby when their parents had died, and Kai had vowed to keep her out of his grandfather's activities. She still thought the man was just a rich lawyer turned business man…

"What is it, Dedko?" she asked pleasantly.

It happened so fast that Kai hadn't been able to anticipate it. One moment, Talya was standing by the desk, the next moment, Voltaire had her in a choke hold, a nine-millimetre pointed to her temple beneath her slate-coloured hair.

"Dedk – !"

"Shut up," he sneered, looking at Kai, who was frozen before his grandfather. "Is this what you really want, Kai? To watch your sister die in front of you? I know how close the two of you are…"

"Kai, what's going on?" Talya squeaked.

"Let her go," Kai said, fighting hard to keep his voice the same calm level as his grandfather. "She has nothing to do with this, Voltaire."

"Oh, she has everything to do with this," the man scorned, cocking the pistol. "Now listen, Kai, and listen well, or you might find my finger slipping on the trigger…and blood is such a messy thing to get out of a Persian rug…"

Talya's terrified eyes looked up at Kai, who clenched his fists in seething anger.

"Fine," he snapped after a long moment. "What do you want?"

"Open the drawer," Voltaire nodded, backing away with Talya so that his back was never to his grandson. Kai slowly moved forward, his eyes never leaving Talya as he tried to silently tell her that everything was alright, he opened the drawer Voltaire kept all of his mission files in. "The red one. Open it."

Kai did so, taking his eyes off of Talya for the first time since she'd entered the room. His eyes skimmed the information quickly and then he looked up at Voltaire.

"You want me to hit Dickinson, McGregor and Balkov?" he said slowly, as though not understanding.

"Exactly. They're the last of those who oppose me."

"But they're your partners," Kai bit out. "And further more, they're the largest corps' after yours. This won't be like any of the other heists I've done for you, there's more at stake and more in my way."

"Speed-reading isn't something you should attempt when I give you something, Kai," Voltaire mocked. "I have already seen to it that you have a crew at your disposal. All you have to do is get in touch with them."

"And what if I say you're full of shit," Kai demanded. "I don't care what you do, this is the last job I'm on, got it? And if you hurt Talya at all while I'm gone…I'll make sure that your death will be by my hands and it will hurt."

"Don't worry, boy, I only need this one last thing taken care of," Voltaire said in a would-be cheerful voice. His tone changed to the dangerous growl Kai was used to. "Now get the hell out of my house if you don't want her brains splattering the floor."

Kai stood still for a moment, before looking right at Talya.

"I won't let anything happen to you," he assured, his voice soft. "I promise you that."

And with that, he stormed out of the room, the door slamming shut with a shattering force behind him.

* * *

Well, lookies, I'm done! With that chapter, I mean. I hope you all like it, because this fic is gonna be fun for me to write. 

(1) Dedko is Russian for 'grandfather'

(2) Taryn's real name is Natalya Rin Hiwatari (so Taryn's more a nickname) and I decided to use that form in this fic.

Love yiz,

Kuri


	2. Chapter Two

**_Heist_******

Title: Heist

Author: KuriQuinn

Rating: R (for mature language and violence)

Summary: Kai Hiwatari is tired of being his grandfathers' stooge. But the old man won't let him go without one last job, one Kai would have refused if it weren't for the ultimatum Voltaire is now holding over him. He suddenly finds himself working with a group of the least likely individuals, all in it for the same reason…

Pairings: Kai/Chaya, Rei/Miyami, slight hints of Max/Takao

Discliamer: I do not own Beyblade, the characters abnd yadda-yadda-yadda…so don't sue me!

Note: I don't know safes, okay, so I just stole the name of the safe from the _Italian Job_ (which also doesn't belong to me)

* * *

_Chapter Two_

The annoying little bell above the door rang as Kai pushed his way into the small diner at the edge of town. It was a sunny little spot with only one woman serving the rounds about the place. The smell of grease and coffee made its way to Kai's nose and he frowned, wondering why the hell he had agreed to meet in a place like this.

What seemed to be the usual customers, old geezers playing chess and reminiscing about old times, a young woman with screaming youngsters and a guy reading the business section of the newspaper, were already seated. Kai looked around the place again his eyes resting on the most private booth there. A young man was already seated within, looking at Kai calculatingly.

When he realized that he was being watched, he grinned and waved him over.

Kai was silent, holding back a sneer as he strode to the back of the diner to join the other man.

He was young, maybe a year or so younger than Kai, with cat-like amber eyes and masses of long black hair which he'd pulled back carelessly. He wore casual khakis and a black T-shirt with the words _Iron Maiden_ embossed on it grey, block lettering. His file had said that he was Chinese, and Kai noted that he really did look it.

"You're Hiwatari, right?" Rei said, a grin on his face as he watched Kai appraising him. The older of the two sneered in response and sat down across from him. Rei's friendly expression didn't change except for the slight falter in his smile. "Kon Rei. Nice to meet you."

He didn't bother to offer his hand, knowing that this Hiwatari stiff would probably refuse it.

"Hn."

Had he called it or what?

They sat in silence for about a minute, before a shadow fell over them. Kai looked up to see the middle-aged waitress that had making her rounds leaning over them with a note-book in hand. "What'll it be?"

"Miori, my love, you look especially fabulous today," Rei grinned, leaning back to regard the woman in a mock amazed light. "You must have done something with your hair…or have you lost weight? Because you look so bright-eyed and wonderful this morning…"

'Miori' giggled. "Now, come on, Rei-san, I know you're only playing…"

"No, it's honest truth," the Chinese youth insisted.

Miori giggled again and Kai coughed, the display making him sick. The woman seemed to notice him for the first time and her cheerful expression faltered into the businesslike one.

"As I was saying," she said, her tone apologizing. "What'll it be?"

"Coffee. Black," Kai said, not even glancing at the menu that she offered him. She smiled at him in a fake manner and turned to Rei.

"And what about you, honey?"

"The usual, Miori," he said, once again smiling broadly. "And take your time. We're in no hurry."

Miori smiled, pleased, and hurried off to seat the customers that had just entered the diner.

Kai looked at Rei incredulously as the Chinese boy watched her leave, and then looked back at him.

"What?"

"How often do you eat here?" the slate-haired young man asked slowly, an eyebrow arching.

"Nearly every day," Rei shrugged. "I like it here."

"And you never get tired of it?"

"I'm a creature of habit."

"Ah."

Silence.

"So, are we going to talk about me, or about this little job that's been set up for us?" the younger man asked. "I mean, not that I mind talking about me, but still…"

"The file says you're good with cars," Kai stated, his eyes not leaving the face of the other. "What's that supposed to mean to me?"

"Is that all it says?" Rei asked in surprise as Miori returned with Kai's coffee and left again. "I'll have you know I'm the best damn carjacker this side of the coast. You need it, I get it, you pay me. It's what I do."

"I still don't see how it's beneficial to me," Kai replied. "This job we need to do has nothing to do with cars."

"Maybe that's what you file said, but the dude that I work for told me there was a specific car he wanted that was exceedingly hard to get," Rei snorted. "And so he called me, because I'm the best."

Kai snorted.

Great. He was working with an over-confident loser.

"What?" Rei raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You don't think I can do it?"

"No, I'm sure you're quite capable," was the reply. "I just don't see your little hobby as important. It has absolutely nothing to do with the objective set for us."

"Oh?" Rei challenged. "And what is it you do, oh great one? What is it that makes you so damn full of yourself?"

Kai debated with himself whether to reply.

"Oh come on – if we're going to work together, we have to be able to trust each other. And dude, unless I know what you do, trust will not be an issue…"

"I crack codes," Kai replied lowly, his eyes looking to the right and left in case someone might overhear. "Safes, vaults, locks, code-boxes…"

"Oh really?" Rei challenged. "Well if you're not just blowing hot air, what kind of safes do you have access to? I bet it takes you an hour just to open a little combo lock."

Kai narrowed his eyes at the Chinese youth.

"You know the Worthington One-Thousand?" he asked quietly, raising his coffee to his lips.

"Yeah…it's supposed to be the hardest safe to crack. I think the record time is five minutes and seventeen-seconds, or something…"

"I got it open in four-and-a-half," Kai told him, taking a sip of the hot liquid.

"Jesus," Rei breathed, looking away fro a second, and then back at Kai. "You're not shittin' me, right? You're serious?"

"Do I look like the type to joke around?"

Rei offered a weak smile. "Good point."

Meanwhile, Miori had returned with three large plates that held hotcakes, a steak, bacon and eggs and a whole lot of other stuff Kai didn't want to know about.

"There you go, honey," she beamed down at Rei. "Enjoy."

"Oh, I will," Rei winked, immediately digging in.

The waitress disappeared again and Kai eyed the mountains of food doubtfully. "Are you actually going to eat all of that?"

"Hell ya, what d'ya think I'm gonna do? Look at it?" Rei snorted, stuffing a strip of bacon into his mouth.

The crimson eyed youth rolled his eyes and went back to his coffee.

"So just how much about this job do you know?" he asked quietly.

"Just that we're supposed to break into a whole bunch of businesses and lift some stuff for the Man," Rei shrugged. "Nothin' serious."

"If you're going to have that attitude, then I'm relieving you of the job," Kai said coldly. "Because you might not have anything on the line, but I do. And I won't allow any inexperienced chumps to mess it up."

Rei's face lost all of his friendliness at that moment, and he put down the fork that was now laden with hotcakes.

"Look, buddy," he said, his voice low and his eyes narrowed into slits. "I don't give a shit what kind of personal problems you might have. The deal is, this is a job that I have to finish. So you can tell me I've been sacked as much as you want, don't mean I'm going anywhere. Got it?"

The both of them exchanged cold looks for a moment, when all of a sudden they were overshadowed again.

'That damn waitress,' Kai thought furiously, glaring up at her. Her sunny face had disappeared and she was looking at Rei doubtfully.

"Rei, hon, you've got trouble," she said fearfully, her eyes riveting back and forth.

Rei glanced out the window and looked panicked.

"Thanks doll," he grinned, digging into his pocket and tossing her a wad of bills. "Now get yourself out of here before someone notices you tipped me off."

Miori sent him a worried glance before hurrying off to the back. Confused, Kai glanced over to the window as well and noticed for the first time the snazzy black Mercedes C 320 convertible that had been parked there. Two men in suits were looking at it studiously, the taller of the two getting ready to come into the diner.

"Another reason I love this place," Rei smirked, nodding towards Miori. "A little cash goes a long way…any problem with being seen with me?"

"Other than your bad hair, not really," Kai replied.

"Good. Then all you gotta do is follow my lead."

Kai sent him an annoyed look and got out of the seat, following the shorter guy to the entrance.

"After I lead them off, get in the car and wait for me," Rei nodded at him, before opening the door and nearly bumping into the taller of the unknown Suits. "Sorry…"

"Sir, are you the owner of that vehicle?" he asked, nodding to the convertible, holding up a badge that glinted in the light.

Rei didn't answer but blew him off, walking away from the diner without a word. The second man looked at Kai, obviously having not seen the two together in the diner and nodded at Rei.

"Do you know him?"

"I've never seen him before in my life," Kai answered, half-truthfully. From the corner of his eye he watched Rei lead the one suit towards an alley. "Except for just now when we walked out together."

"I see," the man nodded, peering at Kai. "You look familiar, have we met?"

"I don't think so," Kai said stiffly. "You've probably just seen me on television."

A look of dawning comprehension appeared on the suit's face.

"Right. You're that Hiwatari kid," he snorted. "What are you – ?"

A yell from the alley caused the man to cut off and look around for his partner in confusion, before running towards where Rei had led him. Kai watched him disappear behind the alley wall and then slowly moved to get into the car, which had been left open.

'And that guy calls himself a carjacker,' he thought peevishly.

A second muffled cry made him look up, and then Rei appeared, dusting off his T-shirt with a smirk on his face. Then he waved to something or someone over Kai's shoulder and ducked into the car.

It was as he was pulling away that Kai noticed the people in the diner watching, the business man waving back at them.

"Are you insane or just plain stupid?" he asked when Rei finally wheeled them onto a different street. "Picking a fight in public?"

"Dude, don't you get it?" Rei sniggered. "Those regulars you saw have a deal with me. They say nothing about any of the business I do there, they get paid. Most of them need it, too. Sakura's husband just left her a few months back and she's raising two kids on a clerk's salary…"

"I really don't care about some sob story," Kai said stonily. "I care that you're so casual. That could be a liability in the work we're going to be doing – "

The car slowed down at an intersection, before turning off onto the main highway.

"Oh shut up, you ass," Rei rolled his eyes, his voice a pitch louder over the rushing wind. "I'm always careful. Why do you think I already have this deal going with the diner? Besides, it was only an accident this time that I forgot to change the plate…"

"Well don't screw up in the future with your accidents, because if you do, I'll kill you."

"Is that a threat?" Rei asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he glanced at Kai quickly, and then back at the road.

"It's a promise."

Rei remained silent. He obviously realized just how important this job was to Kai Hiwatari and noticed how serious he was. When the wind rushing around them in an endless silence became too much to bear, he flicked on the radio to drown it out. The sounds of some J-rock band blared over the steady sounds of traffic, stopping the endless silence.

Kai didn't say anything to protest the music, but looked out at the cars and warehouses on the highway that rushed passed. It occurred to him that Rei was definitely doing over the speed limit, but he didn't say anything.

The ringing of a cell phone was what stopped the music, and Rei leaned down to turn it off.

"Yeah?" he asked loudly, the grin never leaving his face." Yeah, I got him…yeah…we're on our way now…she did, did she? Well, tell her I forgive her that if she'll go out with me…" Rei laughed and Kai stared over in mild aversion. "…yeah, I figured she'd say that…okay. Right…we'll be there in a little…screw you, Takao…right….bye!"

He flicked the phone closed, and then noticed the look Kai was giving him.

"That was the crew. We're all set up and geared to go. Ready to meet 'em?"

Kai didn't reply, but settled on an apprehensive look.

If Rei was this casual, what were the others going to be like?

* * *

Well, there's the next chapter. Hope you dudes liked it!  
Kuriness


	3. Chapter Three

**_Heist_**

Title: Heist

Author: KuriQuinn

Rating: R (for mature language and violence)

Summary: Kai Hiwatari is tired of being his grandfathers' stooge. But the old man won't let him go without one last job, one Kai would have refused if it weren't for the ultimatum Voltaire is now holding over him. He suddenly finds himself working with a group of the least likely individuals, all in it for the same reason…

Pairings: Kai/Chaya, Rei/Miyami, slight hints of Max/Takao

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, the characters and yadda-yadda-yadda…so don't sue me! Miyami/Mitsuko belongs to Mags.

Note: Just to tell you, I made a little mistake with the names. I was going to work with the Japanese names of the Bladebreakers crew, so here's the stuff you need to know: KaiKai / Chaya Chaya / Ray Rei / Miyami Mitsuko / Max Max / Takao Takao / Kenny Kyoujiu

>0

* * *

Chapter Three: 

The car drove passed a construction site, three farms and a gas-station before it entered a business district, filled with warehouses and empty lots. Kai looked around in confusion before he recognized one building in particular. It was labeled _BIOvolt_ and he thought grimly that his grandfather must really think this job important if he was going to risk exposure by letting a bunch of thieves work in one of his building.

"Well, here we are," Rei grinned as he swerved around the parking lot towards the back of the huge warehouse. Kai looked up at the large steel garage door, unimpressed. He couldn't wait for this stupid thing to be finished…

Rei began beating on the horn, letting out spurts of noise in a sort of tune, grinning like a madman all through it. Through the noise, the slate-haired young man heard the loud click of an electric lock and the steady hum as the door began to proceed upwards. Rei waited until it was about halfway up, leaving just enough room to get through and sped under the slit of open space. Kai instinctively ducked, but when he noticed that Rei's estimate of being able to make it through had been correct, he straightened up again and glared.

"What?" Rei asked innocently. Kai glared in response and kicked open his car door, hoping to escape the small enclosed area as fast as possible. "Hey, watch the upholstery!"

The warehouse was a large open space that was mostly empty, with a few cars parked within. A sound system had been set up in the corner, as well as a bunch of makeshift tables where weapons of every kind were laid out and taken apart, all of them looking like they were illegal. Over in another corner, crates of some kind of explosives were lining the place. From what Kai could see, there was enough Nitrogen there to create a Japanese Grand Canyon. A snazzy looking computer was being hooked up to a wall unit, someone's feet sticking out from underneath.

"Are you trying to creep people out again Rei-ma-man?" a loud voice demanded, and a young man walked forward from where he'd been pressing the garage-door-opener. Kai studied him with a quirked eyebrow. His blue jeans and worn red T-shirt were covered in grease and dirt, his shoulder-length blue hair messy and unkempt. His dark blue eyes seemed to be as wide as his grin as he approached the two guys.

The guy looked like a total idiot to Kai.

"Nah, just testing his nerves," Rei replied easily, winking at Kai as though they were sharing a private joke. "The others here yet?"

"No shit," the guy rolled his eyes. "You're the last ones, dude...trying to break your all-time low record of being late?"

"Aw, shut up man," the Chinese boy rolled his eyes and smirked at Kai. "Hiwatari, meet Kinomiya Takao. He's my former boosting partner and full-time wheelman."

"Yeah, if you think he drives good, you haven't seen me yet," Takao wiggled his eyebrows. "I'm the best driver this side of the world."

"He's also an overconfident loser," Rei sniggered, clapping his friend on the back.

Takao ignored him, studying Kai carefully.

"What's your problem?" he asked coldly, not liking the gleam in the other man's eyes.

"Oh, he's just checking out the goods, hon," a female voice said, and Kai looked up into the rafters to see a young woman smirking down at him. She had a slim but muscular figure, with masses of long silver hair and equally silver eyes. She wore a white wife-beater, baggy blue-jeans and steal-toed boots. Chains and bracelets hung around her neck and waist. From what he could see under all the bands, she was polishing a nine millimeter carefully. "And mighty fine they are."

"Hey, back off, _itoko_, I saw him first!" Takao grumbled.

Kai, realizing where this was going, inched away from the loudmouth guy slowly. Great. He was stuck in a group of lunatics. His eyes rested on Rei in a suspicious, and when the Chinese guy noticed this, he laughed.

"Don't worry, dude, Takao's the only one of us that's gay," he assured him. "I am after the heart of another…" He grinned lecherously up at the woman, and Kai heard a snort of disgust.

"In your dreams, booster boy," she muttered, the snub obvious. She disappeared for a second, before returning and hopping down from the rafters, landing in a crouched position nearby. Rei moved to go help her up, but she jumped up herself and pushed him away. "The name's Mitsuko – but I'd rather you call me by my professional name, which is Miyami. I'm Takao's cousin…he's the reason I'm in this dump, else I'd probably be pillaging the military's stocks." She grinned at Kai, who didn't show an ounce of humor in her joke, or tone. "Yeesh, what's wrong, buddy, haven't left the morgue in a while?"

"He's shy," Rei teased. "I'm sure he's just worried about doing the jobs."

"I have no problem with the jobs," Kai replied icily. "I'm just waiting for you jokers to get ready so we can work out what we take first."

The three others exchanged glances and shrugged simultaneously.

"Fine by me," Miyami said.

"Why do all the guys with nice butts have to be straight or assholes?" Takao grumbled in the meantime. He caught Kai's eye. "Or both."

Kai chose to ignore him and followed Miyami and Rei to the other end of the warehouse, where the person under the huge computer was just sliding out. Kai was shocked to see how young the kid was. He couldn't have been more than eighteen, or nineteen, with shaggy auburn hair and rectangle glasses. He wore the kinds of clothes that Kai remembered the geeks at his old schools wearing, and his fingers were raw from rewiring circuits and other things.

"Dude, meet Kyoujiu – also known as The Chief."

The kid looked up at him guardedly, while Kai pondered the name. Chief. He'd heard of him. Comprehension dawned on his face as he looked the kid over again.

"You put together the TARGET virus that showed up a year ago," he said bluntly, staring at him carefully. "The entire country is looking for you, kid, what are you doing here?"

"Does it look like I have a choice?" the Chief asked sarcastically. "If I had my way, I'd be hitting the road and going to Bermuda somewhere. Unfortunately, I was hauled out of my hiding by your gramps to do this job. So you can just kiss my ass with all tough-guy acts, because I don't want to hear it." (1)

And he promptly bent down again and disappeared under the huge computer, leaving Kai staring at him in contempt.

"Don't mind the Chief," a grinning voice assured Kai. "He hasn't eaten in a day-and-a-half – he's been trying to set up that damn computer since we got here, and she's contrary as hell."

Kai merely raised an eyebrow at the newcomer, a tall blond young man – taller than Kai himself – with cheerful blue eyes and a grin on his lips.

"And who are you?"

"Max Tate's the name, demolition's my game," the blond grinned, offering his hand. When Kai didn't take it, he pulled it back, though the cheerful grin remained on his face. "So, boss, now that you're here, I guess we should get started."

Kai frowned at the word, looking at Max in confusion.

"Boss?" he echoed.

"Well, yeah," Rei said, looking as though that fact was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're the man with the plan, right? The folder? The guys that got me in on this job said that you would be telling us what to do."

"I crack codes, I don't plan them," Kai said harshly.

"Oh, great," Takao moaned. "We're stuck with the greenhorn…"

"Say that again and you're dead," Kai snapped. "Look, all I said was 'I don't, not 'I can't'."

The others in the group exchanged glances. Why didn't this sound promising?

)-----(

"The plan is to go after the smaller business's first…namely, Stanley Dickinson, who is a filthy rich dealer in antiquities and the McGregor Clan, who hold shares in the Scottish Mob. They also run a very tight weapons business," Kai explained.

"Holy shit, we're dealing with the mob?" Takao demanded. "And a bunch of rowdy Scots? Are you sure this isn't dangerous?"

"Yeah. That ain't good," Miyami commented. "Ya see…I ran a shady deal with them a few months ago…I'm kinda trying to keep a low profile…"

Kai ignored her.

"We have a job to do, whether it jives with our own personal plans or not," he said coldly. The look he was giving the others shut their mouths and he continued. "Back to Dickinson – he has the most lax security, so we'll go after him first. Our orders are to get in, lift a bunch of artifacts on the list and find some evidence that proves that Dickinson is doing illegal business – nothing that incriminates BIOvolt though."

"God forbid," Takao muttered under his breath. The slate-haired man peered at him silently for a moment, before going back to the plans. "All that's needed for this guy is someone to stall the security system, a way in and a few people to unload the crap. Chief, you can stall the system from here, right?"

"Once I get that hunk of junk geared up," the boy nodded towards the computer system.

"And you can also help us find our way into the safe room, right?"

"No _really_."

"Good."

"Max and Takao – you'll be getting us in and out," Kai went on. " Dickinson may be rich, but he's not smart. I know him personally. He thinks people are too expensive to hire, so he trusts everything to an alarm system. I think he only has one security officer around just to check up on things. No problem to take out."

"So where do Miyami and I come in?" Rei asked.

"You don't."

"What?" the two chorused, looking at Kai indignantly.

"Because I said so," the crimson-eyed youth snapped. "We don't need the entire crew for the first bust because it's too easy. You're to stay here and start getting ready for our work with the McGregor clan."

"No way, man!" Rei groaned.

"Way," Kai said flatly.

"And what the hell am I supposed to do? Stay home and bloody knit?" Miyami cried.

"I want you to find out what weapons the McGregors have," Kai replied. "They're coming into to town on tonight, laden with a lot to trade with whoever wants to buy. Voltaire wants an insider's look at their stocks, but they know him too well to deal with him like that. He wants these weapons – " he tossed her a long paper with various models of guns, grenades and other weapons, " – can you find out from any contacts you have whether they have them and report back to me?"

"Of course I can," Miyami nodded. "When do you want 'em?"

"Yesterday."

"Done. I'll make a few calls, hit a few places I know. I should have the info soon enough," the young woman grabbed a ring of keys out of her pockets and walked towards the few parked cars. She stopped at a blue Mini Cooper and started to unlock it.

"Kon?"

"Yeah Hiwatari?"

"Go with her."

"Yes sir," Rei grinned, hopping off to follow the silver haired girl.

"Uh...you do know what you're doing, right?" Takao said uncertainly.

"Yeah, I'm sending them off to start working on the job," Kai rolled his eyes.

"You don't get it. They have a history together," Takao explained. "They used to date and she dumped him because he's a letch. One of them will be dead by the end of tonight."

He didn't look up from studying his papers. "If their annoying back and forth flirting is any indication, than they should be fine."

Max and Takao exchanged glances and shrugged. Maybe Kai wasn't such an idiot after all…

"So…when are we going to pull this?" Max asked, leaning on the table, absently brushing passed Takao, who suddenly turned red in the face for some reason.

"Chief, when can you get that computer up and running?" Kai inquired, not answering the blond.

"Couple of hours," the kid shrugged.

"What time is it?" was their captain's next question.

"Four o'clock."

He looked pensive for a moment, before looking up at them. "Tonight good?"

* * *

(1) Let's face it, people, Kenny ain't gonna be a geek forever. He's like eighteen now, he's gotten a little attitude..

* * *

Seemed like a good place to end it. Hope you all liked it. 

Kuri

Ciao!


	4. Chapter Four

**_Heist_**

Title: Heist

Author: KuriQuinn

Rating: R (for mature language and violence)

Summary: Kai Hiwitari is tired of being his grandfathers' stooge. But the old man won't let him go without one last job, one Kai would have refused if it weren't for the ultimatum Voltaire is now holding over him. He suddenly finds himself working with a group of the least likely individuals, all in it for the same reason…

Pairings: Kai/Chaya, Ray/Miyami, slight hints of Max/Takao

* * *

>0 

Chapter Four 

"Coffee?"

Kai looked up at the hand of Miyami. She was smiling and holding out a Styrofoam cup of the hot liquid for him, clutching her own in another hand. Around the warehouse, the others were lugging the goods from the Dickinson job around and putting them in storage boxes.

"Thanks," he nodded, accepting the coffee. As he took a sip, she sat down, straddling the chair. On closer inspection of her, he saw that she had countless piercings up her ears and an eyebrow ring. Two Celtic knot-bands graced her right shoulder and a scissor-guideline had been etched into the skin of her wrist.

"So, Kai," she said, raising an eyebrow lightly. "What's your story?"

"What?"

"You know…you're _raison d'etre_…why are you, the most eligible bachelor and all around rich guy, here in the midst of us petty criminals?"

"Hn."

She laughed. "Is that the polite way of saying 'back off and leave it alone bitch'?"

"You're smarter than you look."

"Ha, ha – hey!" she snapped, leaning over and thwacking him lightly on the shoulder. Kai tensed, getting ready to defend himself, but when Miyami sat back again and took another sip of coffee, he relaxed. Considering he had never been teasingly or playfully hit growing up, when people touched him he tended to go on the defensive. Then again, any normal person would have done so if they had been raised by Voltaire.

Kai's eyes narrowed at the thought of his grandfather.

"…Takao and I grew up together," Miyami said suddenly, looking wistful. "We go way back…and I come from a pretty big family. I have two brothers and a sister…"

"And how was that?" Kai asked, just to humour her.

She looked at him seriously. "Well, let's just say I learned to hit back pretty quickly…"

Kai smirked at this, and then his face hardened as he once again thought about Voltaire. "Did you get the stuff that I asked for?"

The silver-haired young woman rolled her eyes and reached across the table, sliding him a folder that was filled to the brim with files and other papers, including news clippings and receipts. As he looked it over, he noticed that the date of two days before had been printed neatly in each page's upper corner.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Well," she began brazenly, "you did say that you wanted them 'yesterday'."

The oldest member of the team opened his mouth to retort to that, but as he skimmed the information before him, his jaw slackened.

"What is all this…?" he asked, not sure he was really seeing this.

"Lists of inventory, price ranges, lists of people on duty, backgrounds, pin numbers and addresses – oh, and the ammunition supplies are also there," Miyami rattled off, pointing things out as she skimmed over the list.

Although he didn't show it, Kai was impressed with her work.

"How did you – not even the Chief could get this stuff of his brain box."

"Well you see, that's what happens when a Scotsman hits the liquor hard," was the reply, an obvious smirk in her voice. Kai read and reread the information a few times over, before looking up at Miyami suspiciously.

"The manner in which you got this stuff wouldn't have anything to do with the rather noticeable black eye Rei has, would it?"

Miyami snorted. "Of course it would! What was I supposed to do; he was going all rowdy and ruining the mission! Decking him was the only way to keep him safe!"

"And for good reason," Rei said, appearing behind them suddenly, dropping a big shipping box he had been lugging on the table and wiping his forehead, careful not to hit any part of the bruise on his face. "With you sucking face with that Johnny guy – if that's his real name!"

"I got the job done, didn't I?" Miyami shot back. "Besides, Rei, it's no longer your business what – or who – I do, so bugger off! You're lucky that I was able to convince Johnny that you were just some drunk psychopath, though I'm pretty sure my lie wasn't too far from the truth!"

And she promptly stalked off.

Rei shook his head ruefully and sat down in her seat, giving Kai a lopsided grin. "Women, huh?"

"You disgust me, Kon."

"Heh, it's all in a day's work…"

"Just get everyone assembled, we have work to do…"

"You mean we finally get to see some action?" Ray asked excitedly, leaning forward somewhat. "Great! You see, Johnny has this really hot Aston Martin Vanquish – a real bea-ut…" (1)

)-----(

"Alright, here's the deal: Voltaire wants these weapons – whether for his own business or collection I don't know, but either way, we need in and out in a short time. The McGregor clan is in town on Wednesday and will begin prepping all through the next day, setting up deals and meetings on the black-market by Friday. Which is why we're going to hit them Thursday," Kai explained. "And we're going to need the entire team this time."

"Just tell us what to do, Yoda," Takao smirked, earning a freezing glare from the captain.

"The clan is using one of their contact's warehouses down by the pier," Kai continued, pretending that Takao's interruption had never occurred. "Chief, can you bring up a – "

"Done," Kyoujiu cut him off, clicking rapidly a few times on his mouse. The big screen of the computer immediately brought up a floor plan of the warehouse, as well as a three-dimensional map of the surrounding and interior area.

"According to the files Miyami got us, the place is going to be heavily guarded – think the pentagon and you're probably close," Kai said. "The guards change their posts every hour-and-a-half, so we'll have to strike then. Now, our best time when we're the most prepared will be around the ten-thirty change. I'm going to need three people including myself for the actual theft: Miyami and Max. You guys are it."

"Should I be feeling proud or something?" Max asked, brushing back a stray lock of blond hair.

"You just need my expertise, don't you?" Miyami fluttered her eyelashes. Kai ignored her.

"Hey, question," Takao said loudly. "What kind of security are we all up against? I mean, you guys have the whole guard thing, yeah, but numbers, dude…"

"There are about thirty people on guard at one time," the Chief said. "None of them really matter except for the five that are guarding the safe where the weapons are."

"What kind of safe is it?" Kai asked.

"I don't know the brand or type," Kyoujiu said apologizing. "But it's big. Ten-by-twelve-by-sixteen; automated locking system, combination locks; synchronized locksets…"

"They're making it too easy," Kai said under his breath, gaining amused glances from the others. He looked up. "Kon, do you have any objection to being the bait?"

"Does it have anything to do with me getting my hands on that Aston Martin?"

"Kon, if you decided to dance around yelling about a three-ringed flea circus, I couldn't care less – as long as it distracts them all for enough time for us to get in, get the stuff and get the hell out."

"I'll hold you to that," the Chinese youth grinned.

Kyoujiu cleared his throat and stood to point at the computer screen.

"Now, it looks as though you have a few possible entries into this place," he said. "The safe is a basement vault, located on the south side of the warehouse; basically, it's closest to the water. You can either get in by the pier exit or the dome roof above, which is more preferable because it opens up right in front of the vault, which will leave us more time. The exit is something completely different: you're all going to have to do a whole lot of walking…so Takao, you'd better be ready at the meeting point on the dot."

"You should synchronize all our watches to the warehouse time," the slate-haired boss said, and Kyoujiu nodded.

"I can do it now, if you want."

The group handed over their watches and the Chief went to work.

"What about the guards?" Miyami asked. "I mean, sure a car will attract some, but those five main guards that really matter aren't going to be budged by a little car alarm…"

Kai pondered this, and then nodded.

"We might need to use knockout gas. Got any?"

"I can get that stuff in ten minutes."

"Then I guess we're in business," Kai nodded. "So the deal is: we'll stake the place out tomorrow so that we know our bearings a little better. Chief, can you get some headset communicators? We're going to need to be in contact with you at all times."

"No problem, I have a contact at the techno club," the kid grinned. "And I can keep you all under video surveillance via satellite from here."

"Do you have an estimate on the time scheme? I already know we only have fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds, but how long should it take us…?"

"Rei, you're going to need to start your distraction at ten-twenty-nine," Kyoujiu said. "That minute will get the others enough time to secure an entry. Takao, you need to be circling the block and always remain close, but not too close to arouse suspicion."

"Gotcha, Chief…but with all these fine bodies, why would I want to be away?" the Japanese guy winked at Max.

"Ten seconds after ten-thirty, Kai, Miyami and Max should get into the building. You have to knock out the guards, considering we don't want anyone dead, right?"

"It's probably better if you keep your gasmasks on at all times," Rei pointed out. "For protection and…protection."

"Right," Kai nodded, storing this information at the back of his head.

"That should take about four minutes," the auburn-haired kid said, swivelling back on his chair to point at the safe on screen. "And then Kai, you do your thing, though you're only going to have about five minutes to crack the code. You have four minutes to load the stuff we need and the remaining time to get out. Takao should be waiting in the parking lot."

"We'll put the stuff in two bags and split it so that they can't trace it all," Kai decided. "And we'll meet back here in a few hours, just in case they manage to follow us."

"Well, that sounds easy," Miyami clapped her hands together.

"Yeah," her cousin nodded, standing up and pushing his chair back. "Well, if we're done here, I have a ham and banana sandwich with my name on i – "

"Sit your ass down, Kinomiya, we have work to do. There's no time for your slacking."

"Slacking? Me? I don't even know the word…"

* * *

(1) Aston Martin Vanquish is the car from the Italian Job, but no I didn't take it. I just happen to think that the Vanquish is the nicest model of Aston Martin yet and figured Johnny would be arrogant and rich enough to afford one.

* * *

Hopefully tomorrow's a better day, 

Kuriness


	5. Chapter Five

**_Heist_**

Title: Heist

Author: KuriQuinn

Rating: R (for mature language and violence)

Summary: Kai Hiwatari is tired of being his grandfathers' stooge. But the old man won't let him go without one last job, one Kai would have refused if it weren't for the ultimatum Voltaire is now holding over him. He suddenly finds himself working with a group of the least likely individuals, all in it for the same reason…

Pairings: Kai/Chaya, Rei/Miyami, slight hints of Max/Takao

* * *

>0 

Chapter Five: 

Ten-twenty-five minutes to ten o'clock. Three figures were scurrying across the rooftop of a pier warehouse, their footfalls quiet as they tried to stay in the shadows. A lone watchman had already been knocked out and was propped up by the corner of the roof, tied and gagged. He'd been taken out without a fight, thankfully.

The three figures stopped around the glass dome above, surrounding it. The tallest of the figures switched on a small penlight, illuminating Kai's serious face.

"Start preparing the explosives," he ordered, and the figure to be seen as Max nodded, shrugging off the rucksack he had on and beginning to empty it out. "Kinomiya, weapons."

"Done, dude," the only female of the three smirked, tossing him a large gasmask that covered everything but the eyes, which were a mirrored plastic. "You know? This feels like Mission Impossible – "

"Shut up. We only have another two minutes before Kon's distraction," Kai snapped. "If the catch on to us before then, it's your ass."

The only reply was a low grumble. "You know, a 'thanks for the arsenal, Miyami, we couldn't have done it without you', would have done fine."

"He's right, Miyami, you have to be serious," a voice in her ear spoke and she let out a groan at the Chief.

"You know, you listening in on all this, is a little freaky," she mumbled. "I feel like you're the conscience I never had…"

Max chuckled silently, earning a look of reprove from Kai.

"Okay," Kyoujiu's voice said. "Takao's just around the block and Rei is just entering the parking lot. Start getting ready."

Max was already setting the skylight explosives around, as well as attaching harnesses and rope to the outer rim. The muffled clicks and snaps of the equipment were the only noises for a few moments.

He had just finished when the three of them heard a car alarm go off.

"Alright, operation is 'go'," Kyoujiu said. "Break a leg."

"Get back," Max ordered, taking a hand-held detonator out of his pocket. "This is gonna hurt…"

The three hid behind a ventilator, waiting silently for Max to press the thing. Miyami and Kai pulled on their masks.

_DOOM! _

The dome disappeared downward in a blast of glass and metal, and the three thieves jumped out of their spots and hurried towards the harnesses.

"Knockout gas ready," Miyami grinned, opening about three cans and tossing them downward. Muffled shouts, marred by coughs could already be heard, and when they became too sparse and few between, Kai nodded and the three grabbed the ropes and jumped down.

Their feet landed on granite, surrounded by five unconscious bodies and a thick smoke that was still billowing around.

"Holy shit, dude, this stuff's potent," Max grumbled. "I'm wearing a mask and it's hard to breathe!"

"Yeah, it's real potent," Miyami echoed, slowly becoming visible through the haze. There were sudden shouts beyond the large steel doors and the three thieves whirled around to watch hoards of men enter the room. "Just…not long lasting."

"Shit, that's more than five," Max swore.

Someone was pushing through the throngs of thugs until he was plainly seen by the crowd. A shock of red hair dominated most of his head, and his dark blue eyes glared out at them.

"So…ye think ye can break into my place an' get away with it? Heh. bullshit." He spoke English and his accent was extremely thick. "Yer in for a one way ticket to pain, you dobbers. Awight, who the fuck's the leader here? Because yer in fur it."

"You talk too much," Kai said quietly and in perfect English, stepping forward. "And I really don't have time for it."

"Z'atta fact?" the redhead smirked. "Yer shittin' me. Away ye go ya bas or I will give you a skelp, it will be sore mind!"

"I'm not going anywhere," Kai said easily. He nodded back at the others. "You guys set the stuff up, I'll keep this idiot busy."

"Idiot, aye?" the stranger's face turned an angry red to match his hair. "I'll be makin' ye regret those words. Or my name ain't Johnny McGregor – at 'em, b'ys! An' the tall one's mine!"

The group of thugs rushed at the three thieves, who immediately put down their things and began to fight back. It seemed that each of the team had apparently taken self-defence before…

"The hell is this?" Max grunted as he flipped a man over his shoulder. "This has to be more than thirty…"

"Shut up and fight, Tate," Kai snarled as he dropkicked two of the guys trying to down him on his quest to get to Johnny. "We only have another four minutes to get to the safe!"

"Thirty men in four minutes? I like these odds," Miyami laughed, ducking as one of the goons tried to punch her but landed one on his buddy.

"I ain't lettin' ye git away from here breathin'," Johnny smirked when he finally caught up to Kai and landed a hit in his stomach. "Me family an' honor mean more than that." He kneed Kai in the face. "I won' be gubbed by any thievin' erse."

He moved his leg back for a kick to Kai's face, but the slate-haired captain of the team caught it and twisted it back, sending the Scotsman flying to the ground. Behind him, Miyami was being held by two guys, a third coming up to her with a very threatening look on his face. Beneath her mask, she smirked and swung back, then forward, kicking the approaching aggressor in the face before she flipped over the shoulders of the men holding her. In their surprise they let go, allowing her the opening to bash their heads together.

"All right there, dude?" she called over to Max who was backing away from his attackers. His back hit the wall and he watched their faces turn into grins.

"Y'aint gitten away, b'y," the biggest one smirked, taking out a gun and aiming it at Max's head. The blond swallowed nervously. Just as the guy was about to shoot, though, he was knocked over by one of his own buddies as Miyami tossed him over. The blond guy didn't even wait to lean forward and punch out the other two out, before elbowing the third in the face.

"Thanks," he grinned at his team mate. "I've finished mine."

"Me too," she nodded as she downed the last assailant with a swift upper-cut. "Where'd you learn? In a school?"

"Nah – whoa, look at him go," Max nodded in the direction of their leader and Miyami's eyebrow raised.

Kai and Johnny were really dogging it out with any trick in the book. One moment Kai was beating Johnny back with several kicks to the face and the next the Scot had Kai up against the wall getting the crap punched out of him. In a moment Kai head-butted Johnny and delivered a punch to the side of his head. Seconds later Johnny had tripped Kai and was leaning over to kick him, but Kai twisted his foot sideways, making the other guy fall over.

"Watch TV much?" Miyami wondered.

"You guys!" Kyoujiu was saying frantically. "You only have thirty seconds more to get rid of this guy! What the hell are you doing!"

At that precise moment, Johnny landed one good punch to Kai's chest and he was down on the ground, trying to catch his breath.

"Ye were sayin', you chanty wrassler?" he smirked, leaning over Kai's slumped form.

"I was saying," Kai wheezed, not looking up, "that my family means more to me than yours could possibly mean to you. And if I have to beat your ugly face just to save hers, there we go."

And he promptly delivered a strong hit to Johnny's groin. The Scot doubled up and Kai jumped to his feet, elbowing Johnny in the face and the throwing him into the save door.

"Shite," Johnny groaned as he fell to the ground and didn't get up again.

"Nice one, Kai…" Miyami grinned.

"Shut up Kinomiya," Kai barked, wrenching his mask off so that he could breathe better. "We don't have time to crack the codes. Tate, you got any explosives left?"

"Sure. I'm not sure if it'll get that door open, but – "

"Shut up and set them," Kai breathed. "Miyami, figure out a way to get this stuff out of here within two minutes."

"But we're supposed to have four!"

"Well the operation was screwed up before it even began, so deal," Kai snapped.

"But we don't fucking have the means to do it, Hiwatari! We won't be able to get away with more than – "

CRASH!

The three ducked down as splinters of plaster and wood came hurtling at them as the trunk of a Ford SUV crashed through the wall and door into the safe room.

As the dust cleared, Takao's cheerful face poked in.

"Someone needed a 'means'?" he grinned.

"For once I'm glad to see you," Kai said darkly. "Get ready to help us load the shit. Where's Kon?"

"Giving the rest of the world the chase of the lifetime around the parking lot," Takao told them as he climbed over the remains of the wall. "He's really messing with their heads…"

BOOM!

"Safe's open," Max announced, waving away to dust and smoke from his explosives. "Man are we lucky, I almost didn't have enough – "

"Okay, all of you, you know what weapons Voltaire wants. Get 'em quick."

The four thieves ducked into the destroyed safe and began grabbing all the weapons and ammo that were of any worth, tossing them into the trunk of the SUV. It took three minutes to finally get everything packed in before they could get into the car.

"Takao, you've made an exit for us, right?" Miyami asked as she jumped into the back passenger seat with Max.

"No shit, Yami," he smirked. He looked at Kai as the oldest member of the team shut the passenger door. "Buckle up, dude."

"Shut up and drive, Kinomiya."

"Yes sir. Hey, want me to wear the uniform and hat too, or – "

"JUST DRIVE, TAKAO!"

The blue-haired young man sniggered as he shifted to third gear and floored it. The rear wheels squealed against the wall fragments as the SUV shot out of the warehouse and into the dark parking lot. On the other side the group could see Rei in the Vanquish, pulling sharp curves and stops, obviously pissing off the group of men that were following him. Some were even shooting in his general direction hoping to scare him out of the car. Which was obviously, not working.

Rei seemed to be having loads of fun. He kept poking his head out of the window to tease the guys, before pulling his head back in moments before the bullets hit him.

"Hey guys!" they could hear him yelling across the parking lot, even as they pulled out and left the warehouse behind. "There's a three-ringed flea circus in town. It's free! You've got to see the third act, its kick-ass!"

"Rei, get out of there," Kyoujiu ordered. "We're done."

"Aw, so soon?" they heard the Chinese man's wise cracking voice through their headsets. "I was having fun…"

But he pulled away from the running men and swerved onto the street nearby, showing off the speed of the car as he disappeared into the darkness. The SUV followed, within, the group quiet. Miyami pouted. "Why does he always have to show off like that?"

"Hey, even you would show off in that car," Max grinned. "Oh, and just a question, but what happens when they decided to follow us? You might not be caught, Kon, but we will be. We have more weight on us."

"Don't sweat it, Maxi," Rei laughed over the intercom, sounding smug. "There are reasons why I let the air out of all the cars in the area except ours…"

The group burst into laughter. All except for Kai, who stared moodily out at the passing scenery.

That could have gone much worse…

(-)

"Okay guys, move all of the merchandise into the truck over there," Kai ordered, tossing his gas mask and other supplies and then nearest table. "Make sure to stack them properly this time. Chief, you supervise."

"Aye-aye, captain."

He barely registered the others moving off to do as he had ordered as he sat down on one of the he stools and allowed himself to take a deep breath. Damn Voltaire. He had known perfectly well the dangers there were in getting these goddamned weapons. And even when factoring all possible scenarios, they had still screwed up big time.

And Kai couldn't get out of this job, because the bastard had his sister on the other end.

"Hey Kai?"

He jumped, then looked up at Miyami with a glare.

"What?" he snapped.

"Uh…I was just wondering," the young woman said quietly. "Tonight when you were fighting with Johnny…what did you mean when you said your family meant more than his and you had to save 'her'?"

Kai winced, having forgotten that she had heard him talking about Talya.

"And don't say 'none of your damn business'," Miyami continued. "Because it looks like we're not the only ones being blackmailed into helping this crackpot." Kai looked up in masked confusion. The others had appeared behind Miyami and were looking at Kai expectantly. "So who is she?"

Kai looked at each serious face, before giving up inwardly.

"She's my sister," he said finally. "And Voltaire said he'd kill her if I didn't do as he said."

"Shit," Takao whistled. "I never knew he'd stoop that low…"

"That doesn't matter," Rei said, waving his hand. "What matters is, do you want to turn the tables on the asshole?"

Now Kai looked openly confused.

Kyoujiu cleared his throat.

"After we found out that every single one of us was being used by Voltaire, we decided to put a double-cross into effect," he explained. "We just didn't know if you'd be in for it. We were preparing to make the call tonight."

Kai raised one eyebrow.

"So, dude, you in or out?" Miyami asked.

He was silent a moment.

"I'm in," he nodded. "But just a question. If I had said no, what would you have done?"

"Oh, killed you off and then told the old man that McGregor killed you," Takao shrugged but seemed to grow nervous under the look that their captain was giving them. He looked as though any second he was going to try to kill them. Takao coughed and began to apologize for the truth. "Look, Kai, it was just – "

"You chumps think that drunk could have killed me?" the crimson eyed young man demanded. "Are you insane?"

Miyami burst out laughing at that.

"Petty, man, way petty," she grinned. Kai ignored her.

"What makes you think you can double-cross Voltaire?" he asked suspiciously. "The guy has eyes everywhere and probably has us being followed to boot."

Max coughed and stepped forward.

"Actually, we were thinking of calling in a favour…"

(-)

Eleven thousand, three hundred and eight kilometres away in a rundown jailhouse in a forgotten city in Mexico, a lone bailiff stalked down the halls, looking at the prisoners with intense dislike. In one hand he held a club and in the other a phone, whose long cord trailed back around the corner the way he had come.

Various inmates called out curses and vulgarities as he passed, but he ignored them, intent only on the cell at the very end of the line. When he finally got there, his eyes narrowed at what he was seeing.

Within the cell, four people were seated around the cheap copper-wire bunk, each holding a hand of cards. Three other prison guards were watching as the three guards and single young woman stared each other down, once in a while putting down cards into the fold. The young woman laughed, shaking her unkempt blond hair out of her brown eyes.

"Y eso, caballeros, es lo que usted llaman un 'royal flush'," she smirked. "Eso juego va a mí también…" (1)

"¡Usted engañó!" her fellow players yelled angrily, but she stopped them with a single glare. (2)

"Tate! Hay una llamada telefónica para usted," the bailiff barked. "Parece usted hizo la fianza." (3)

"¿Qué?" the young woman demanded, looking up at the newcomer. She stood up and strode across the room. "Déme eso." (4)

She swiped the phone from him through the bars and put it to her ear.

"Yeah?...Max! What the hell do you want? Why didn't you – eh, si ustedes piensan en mirar mis tarjetas usted lo lamentará!" she snapped at her fellow players before going back to her call. "Well I dunno, you coulda called to say hi or maybe _bail me out sooner_! I can't believe you left me to rot in a freaking Mexican jail, Max, we're supposed to be twins – ¿qué justo le dije, maldígalo?...no toquez nada – What? A job?...I dunno, Maxie, I'm kinda on a job right now…yes, you can to be running a job in a Mexican prison! Don't laugh at m – _how much_! Holy shit…yeah, okay. Fine. But send me the presidential escort, right?...Okay. See you then. Love you, bye." (5)

She hung up and passed the phone back to the bailiff, before turning back to the players with a grin on her face.

"Uno mas! Et eso tiempo, yo puedo pagarlo realmente apagado…" (6)

* * *

>0 

(1) And this, gentlemen, is what you call a royal flush. That game also goes to me…

(2) You cheated!

(3) Tate! There is a telephone call for you. It looks like you made bail.

(4) What? Give me that.

(5) Hey, if you even think of looking at my cards you'll regret it…what did I just say, damn it? Don't touch anything!

(6) One more time! And this time I can actually pay it off…

* * *

At this point I would like to apologize for my horrendous Spanish, because let's face it, I suck at it. I would also like to apologize for the wait. I was reminded by my friend Flash that I actually have this fic that needs to be continued as well. Oh and also, if you don't understand Johnny's Scottish, just let me know. And that's it for now. 

Kuriness


	6. Chapter Six

_Heist_

Title: Heist

Author: KuriQuinn

Rating: R (for mature language and violence)

Summary: Kai Hiwatari is tired of being his grandfathers' stooge. But the old man won't let him go without one last job, one Kai would have refused if it weren't for the ultimatum Voltaire is now holding over him. He suddenly finds himself working with a group of the least likely individuals, all in it for the same reason…

Pairings: Kai/Chaya, Ray/Miyami, slight hints of Max/Takao

>0

* * *

Chapter Six:

The automatic door of the airport slid open and a young woman wearing dark glasses with masses of long chestnut hair, carrying a simple carpet bag in her hands. She was dressed in a fur coat and silk skirt, obviously a wealthy woman, wearing stilettos and many bands of expensive looking jewellery. Without waiting very long, she had hailed a cab and was on her way to the Holiday Inn located in the heart of Tokyo.

The driver tried to make conversation, but the woman merely peered outside at the many ongoing things to see in the city.

When she was finally dropped off in front of the lobby, the cab driver hardly waited for her to tip her before speeding away, muttering angry curses about Americans. The woman merely raised an eyebrow before walking into the lobby and striding forward towards the front counter. Her room was already perfected as had been accorded by her reservation and with a shrug of indifference she handed over her bag and told the bell-boy to bring her things up immediately.

Without so much as a thank you, she had stridden towards the bar nearby and seated herself down.

"Cranberry and vodka cocktail," she ordered, a heavy New Yorker accent marring her Japanese. The barman looked her over, taking her in her form, before nodding and going about his business to make it. It was two minutes later when he finished and handed her the tall glass. She took a deep gulp, a smirk on her face even as her red lipstick smudged onto the glass.

The stool next to her was moved and she looked over to see a young Chinese man, about her age grinning at her flirtatiously. She raised an eyebrow as she waited for him to speak. "Problem?"

"Well, you beat me, I was about to order you a drink."

"Looks like you were too slow," she commented casually, taking another sip of the drink. "But maybe…you'd like to make it up to me?"

"How so?" he looked interested.

"I just ordered a bottle of champagne for my room," she remarked casually. "Maybe you'd like to come up and share it, to make up for your less than prow attitude."

"Lead the way."

They both stood and she told the barman to charge the bill to room 509, before taking the Chinese man by the arm and leading him towards the elevator. The barman shook his head, his assumptions about the woman having been right on. Young people today…

(-)

The two strangers did not, however, go to room 509. As soon as the elevator door closed, the Chinese man pressed the buttons for the seventh floor and grinned across the empty elevator at his companion.

"You're not too shabby an actor," he smirked.

"You ain't that bad yourself," she replied, all traces of a New York accent having disappeared the moment the doors closed.

He sniggered and there was no more talk before the door opened again to their destination and he led her down the corridor, digging his hands into his pockets to extract a key card. She watched him in a bored way as he slipped the card into the slot and pushed open the door, letting her through first before he followed, listening to the click behind him as it swung shut.

Not a moment had passed before the young woman reached up and pulled off the dark glasses and the wig that had hidden her true features. Clever brown eyes took in the surroundings of the hotel room and she reached up to keep the dusty blond hair out of her face.

"Okay, so which one of you guys is going to tell me why the hell I had to spend and entire flight dressed as Elizabeth Taylor and act like some sleazy whore just to get here," she demanded, sending one venomous glare at a particular person that was seated at the chair in the room. The curtains had been drawn across to keep anyone from seeing the inhabitants of the suite, three of whom were seated around the couch, one who staring back at her guiltily from an armchair and the last was not even registering her presence as he leaned against the door. "Max?"

"Nice to see you too, Chaya," the tall blond young man grumbled even as he got up from the armchair and hugged her tightly.

"I'm still not hearing explanations or the big earth shattering plot you were going to unfold to me," she said, as he pulled away, crossing her arms expectantly.

"Cliff notes version?" interrupted the only other young woman in the room and Chaya glanced at her, waiting for her to proceed. "We're all being watched, mate. And so are you. If the Man knew that you were here, he'd know what we were up to and we'd all be fucked."

The blond raised her eyebrow at the other woman, then smirked and looked at Max. "I like her. How come she couldn't have been the one to call, huh?"

"Because she's not the one that had the money to bail you out of jail, little sister," Max snorted, fixing the young woman in a sarcastic glance. "Or did you forget?"

"Speaking of forget, maybe you forgot that three minutes difference doesn't make me that much littler than you," she snapped back. "Look, Maxie, I'm tired, I'm hungry, I need a bath and I still don't have a clue what's going on, so if you're going to screw around with me, I'm going to tear out your rib cage and wear it as a hat."

"Whoa there, kid, keep your claws in," the one she had walked up with. "We'll get to it when we do."

"And who are you?"

He seemed to deliberate over this for a moment, before grinning. "Batman."

"Hah, hah, hah – sure," she snorted.

"You know, just once I'd like someone to believe that…"

"Well, it ain't gonna be today…" she motioned with her hands.

"Rei. Kon Rei. Enchanté, mademoiselle," he winked, sweeping into a bow and pressing his lips to the back of her wrist. She regarded him calculatingly, and then turned to Max and pointed back at the Chinese man.

"Is he evil?"

"Evil?" her twin questioned even as Rei was pulling away. "What do you mean?"

"The last guy that did that to me is spending ten to fifteen for attempted rape."

She was met with a blank response and sighed. "Never mind…who the hell are you guys? You gonna have me guess your names or take pity on an already tortured mind and tell me?"

"The name's Takao," the young man with long bluish hair said. "And this is Miyami – " he pointed to the other woman who nodded at her, " – Kyoujiu – " the kid with auburn hair smiled hesitantly at her, " – Max you obviously already know, Rei too, and that human ice statue over there is Kai, the brains of this operation. "

"Well let's just hope you're smarter than you look, right?" she smirked across the room, sizing up the leader of the group. "Eh, sunshine?"

"I could say the same for you," the stolid member of the group said without missing a beat, speaking for the first time. He turned around and looked her over contemptuously. "Max, you said you had a professional in mind. I wasn't expecting a low calibre pick-pocket."

The blond narrowed her eyes at this, glowering at him.

"I've been on jobs since before you even knew what a safe was, Mr. Asshole-of-the-Year Hiwatari." He raised his eyebrow at her. "Yeah, that's right, I took the liberty of checking up on all of you before I got here, thanks to Max mentioning you all to me. And I don't appreciated being insulted by a rookie who just happens to be good with numbers and locks. Especially not one that's been doing his granddaddy's dirty work for the greater part of his life."

Now it was Kai's turn to look enraged.

"Yeah, I know about that too, honey," she said coldly as she began to take off the fur coat to reveal a smart looking black shirt under a white blouse, as well as black leggings. "Don't even start with me."

"So you think you're that good?" was his scathing comment.

"I _know_ I'm that good, thanks, and if you tell me what the hell is going on I'll be even better."

"It'd be nice if we had more than your word to go on, Tate."

"How about the word of others. Max?" she looked up now, nodding at her brother. "You're the one that got me in on this, tell Mr. Arrogance over there why you chose me, other than the fact that you love me more than anything and I'd kill you if you didn't let me in on something like this…"

Max swallowed nervously, not liking either of the looks he was receiving from Kai or Chaya.

"Uh…she…is the best," he mumbled. "She's wanted in Paris, London, Berlin and four American states for grand theft auto, bank robberies, store jobs, malls, theft of antiquities, fraud…" He coughed, hoping that would be enough and was thankful when his sister turned her face from him back to Kai, with a smirk.

"They call me La Fleche – the arrow," she drawled. "Maybe you've heard of me in some headline? I'm the best damn cat burglar this side of the world."

Not even Kai could hide his look of surprise at this piece of information. Behind him, Miyami swore out loud and Takao stared, before turning to Max and demanding, "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"Dude, you've never been caught," the silver haired woman said admiringly. "How'd you manage that? I mean, with all that crap under your belt, they usually catch you. Aren't people out there looking for you?"

"They don't know who to look for," Chaya smirked. "No one's ever gotten a look at me, or any DNA or crap like that."

Rei frowned.

"Hey, that leads me to ask one question," he began. "If you're so good, how come they didn't get you in the beginning to help out on this little escapade?"

"Ah, that would be…because no one but Max knew where I was," she said, looking like she had suddenly deflated and was slightly embarrassed. "I got picked up in Mexico during El Día de Los Muertos for stealing a fucking bottle of tequila. I didn't have my papers on me and so they put me in jail. Of course, my record's clean, considering I've never been in jail, so they could only hold me until I made bail…which I didn't because a certain someone didn't decide to remember me until three days ago." At this she glared and her brother again. "Why was that, Max? Huh? You were my one phone call and you never paid for me to get out!"

Max shuffled nervously and then looked at Kai.

"Hey, can we start on the plan already? You know, considering we don't have all that much time to take the wind outta Voltaire's sails?"

"Don't change the topi – whoa, Volatire?" the newcomer turned around quickly to stare at the leader of the group. "Volatire Oreskovic? The multimillionaire tycoon that if he doesn't like you won't hesitate to kill you and then go after you relatives, Volatire Oreskovic! As in his gramps?"

The group on the couch nodded, and she swore. "Fuck all, what did you do to piss him off?"

"Actually, you should reverse that," Kyoujiu piped up. "It's what he did to piss us off."

"I'm going out," Kai said abruptly, walking towards the entrance to the hotel room and grabbing his coat from within the closet. "I have to see my 'gramps' and get the rest of the plan for the heist. Fill in the newbie by the time I get back."

And then, ignoring the outbursts and the annoyed curse in his direction, he closed the door behind him and wandered towards the elevator.

(-)

Kai curled his lip as he waited for the door to open. When Olaf did, he strode through without even speaking to him and hurrying up the stairs, not caring whether or not the carpeting became dirty as he hurried up to the study of the old man.

Voltaire was sitting in his chair comfortably, reading over the business section of the newspaper when he closed the door behind him. The old man looked up, a cruel smirk on his face.

"Why, young Mikhail, finished so soon?" he asked pleasantly, although they both knew they answer.

"No. I'm just here to tell you that Dickinson and McGregor have both been taken care of. All we have left to work on is Biovolt," he said coolly.

"Good, good, excellent," Voltaire stood now and moved around the table. "Er, I would ask you to hold onto the merchandise for a while, just to keep it safe…after all, you could do so better than I could, right, grandson?"

Kai didn't reply, merely narrowing his eyes. They both knew that Voltaire didn't want to take anything stolen until after the hubbub and news of it's theft had blown over. Just in case he was searched.

"Where's Talya?"

"Now that is not your concern until after you have finished what I have entrusted you to do," the iron-grey haired man said snidely.

"Actually, it is in both of our best interests that you assure me of her safety," Kai said in a steely tone, firm with determination. "If you've harmed one hair on her head, I will have you slit from navel to nose without any qualms. So just to make sure I'm not getting all of this stuff for you in exchange for a corpse, you'd better take me to her now."

Voltaire's black eyes were without emotion as he stood, a revolver in his hands as he pointed it at Kai. It was the same one he had used to threaten Taryn weeks before and its cold steel barrel was staring down at Kai. "Need I remind you what is on the line here?"

"Need I remind you that without me your entire plot falls apart?" the young man returned in an equally deadly voice.

The silence in the room was so thick that Kai could hear the wind whisper outside.

"Fine," Voltaire nodded. "Although I give you my word that she is safe, perhaps you would rather hear it from her yourself?"

He reached over to the phone on his desk and dialled a number so quickly that Kai couldn't follow the movements. With a quick punch of a button, Voltaire had put it on speaker phone and was leaning comfortably back in his chair, the pistol still trained on the younger member of the family. After three rings it was picked up and after a tentative silence, a small, scared voice answered.

"Y-yes?"

"Talya, there's someone here that wants to talk to you," Volatire said loudly in a mocking, sing-song voice.

"Talya?" Kai choked, having been caught off-guard at hearing his sister sounding so afraid. "Talya, are you alright?"

"Kai? Kai, is that you! Kai, please help me, please! You have to get me out of here. They're going – oh, God, Kai hurry – "

His sister's voice was frantic, even as it cut off and he nearly bounded towards his grandfather in anger had it not been for the firearm pointed in his direction.

"You said she wouldn't be hurt!" he snarled.

"Do as I say and it'll stay that way," the old man ordered. "Don't come back here until you've finished the job, Kai. Or I will kill her."

The young man clenched his fists as his grandfather laughed.

"Here, I'll make it easier for you too," he chuckled. "I'll call Boris Balkov right now and tell him I'm sending my junior assistant to inspect the company's holdings. That sound acceptable to you, boy?"

"Undoubtedly," the 'boy' replied, turning on his heel and stalking off.

He heard his grandfather's cold laughter follow him even after he had left the premises.

* * *

>0

Sorry for the wait guys, but I already told you exams. Expect many updates in the near future.


	7. Chapter Seven

_Heist_

Title: Heist

Author: KuriQuinn

Rating: R (for mature language and violence)

Summary: Kai Hiwatari is tired of being his grandfathers' stooge. But the old man won't let him go without one last job, one Kai would have refused if it weren't for the ultimatum Voltaire is now holding over him. He suddenly finds himself working with a group of the least likely individuals, all in it for the same reason…

Pairings: Kai/Chaya, Rei/Miyami, slight hints of Max/Takao

>0

* * *

Chapter Seven:

Rei opened the door and Kai stepped out, looking around impassively.

Biovolt was large compound, taking up an entire two city blocks with an impressively built structure. Security offices surrounded the place and signs of elaborate measures to keep the place safe were obviously being taken. It was an understatement to say that it would be hard to break into this place.

"Nervous?" Rei mumbled as he adjusted his suit and mirrored glasses. Kai glared at him. "Right. You don't get nervous."

"But the rest of us do," grumbled Miyami as she took her place to Kai's left. "Why'd I have to play the Muscle Number Two?"

"Stop asking questions," Kai snapped. "We don't have time, if you screw this up, we're all screwed."

"Yes, oh mighty despot," Miyami muttered.

"Okay guys," Kyoujiu's voice echoed through the earphones in both Rei and Miyami's ears. "If you're going to pull off the façade of bodyguards, you have to stop talking and act it. You don't talk to anyone, don't answer questions and don't draw attention to yourselves. Contact camera's in?"

"Yeah and they're bloody chafing me eyes," Miyami grumbled as the three walked towards the entrance of the building, Kai walking ahead of her and Rei. Kai was dressed smartly in a business suit made of rich material that the team had 'acquired' the night before thanks to some quick thinking on Chaya's part and hurried talents on Miyami's. She and Rei wore black suits, cell phones and holstered guns. They were both outfitted with transmission devices, which consisted of a microphone placed over their back molars and contact lenses that held small cameras within.

"You sure you can see through these glasses, Chief?" Rei wondered, adjusting his mirrored shades that were identical to Miyami's.

"If you can, we can," Kyoujou replied. He was seated in a small truck parked a block away from the compound, looking at a computer which showed the company looming closer as the three others walked forward. Max and Chaya leaned over, watching.

The doors opened and the three walked towards the front desk. The secretary looked up, about to ask who they were, when she spotted Kai. All of a sudden she became flustered.

"Hiwatari-san," she cleared her throat. "You're early – "

"Time is money and money is time," he said coldly, leaning on the counter, fiddling with a phone clip in his hand. "I was told that there would be ID passes waiting here for us?"

"Uh, yes sir, right away," she said hurriedly, swiveling on her chair and digging something out of a drawer behind the counter. Miyami reached up on pretense of adjusting her glasses and switched on the magnifier, making a zoom image appear of the drawers and panels.

The woman handed them three ID badges and Kai nodded as he accepted them, dropping his pen over the side of her desk seemingly by accident. She glanced at him nervously, bending over to pick it up and Miyami leaned over ever so slightly to clip a lens picture of the computer screen which showed all of the security cameras, then leaned back.

"You go through those doors to the waiting room in front of you using your ID badge. I'll tell Borcloff-san you've arrived. Oh, and any electrical devices or weapons are not permitted past that point, so you'll have to leave them with security," she told them. Kai didn't answer and began walking towards the double doors that the woman had indicated, sliding his ID card in quickly.

Miyami and Rei followed silently, their eyes taking in everything from behind their mirrored glasses. The corridor they walked through seemed normal enough so far.

Back in the van, Kyoujiu studied the images being relayed back to him, looking all over the screen.

"Hah, some civilian waiting area, they have motion sensors all over that floor," he snorted.

"And I bet it's not just an alarm that'll go off if you trip 'em," Chaya commented, looking them over. "Ever seen _Indiana Jones_? I wouldn't put it past these people to have poison darts fly out at you."

"From where, the cracks in the floor tiles?" Kai muttered under his breath. This new member of the group was annoying him, with her wise cracking, comical way.

The three members of the group finally arrived at the security check, where the guards ordered them to hand over their weapons and electronic devices. Without words, Kai and the others handed over their cell phones and the holstered guns. Miyami handed over the jack knife that she had placed down her boot and nodded.

"Hiwatari-san?" a young, well dressed man appeared before them, folder in hand. His icy blue eyes were framed by scarlet hair and his face was void of any expression. "It's my duty to make sure you're not using any technological equipment that might cause hazard both to our products as well as give secrets to our rivals. I know that you are technically a partner, but the rule applies to everyone."

"Than why are you wasting my time talking about it and not getting on with your business?" the slate-haired leader asked coolly.

"I'm afraid I must ask you to relinquish your earphones, both you and your bodyguards – "

"Take theirs if you must, but I'm afraid mine is a direct connection to my grandfather's secretary," he said stiffly. "I have many appointments to keep today – what did you say your name was?"

"Ivanov."

"IVanov," Kai nodded. "I must keep in contact to know of any other schedule conflicts."

"Be that as it may, I still have to at least check it…" the redhead reached over to go for the earphone in Kai's ear, but he jerked out of the way and took it off himself, glaring at Tala all the while.

The group all held their breath, and in the van, Chaya wrenched Kyoujiu's headphones and microphone out of his grasp, jamming it onto her own head. The minute she saw Tala leaning in to listen, she began speaking in clear, rapid Russian.

"…Gospodin, tvoy vjechjerniy prijem vmjektje s golovkoy Megatech bil otmjehnjeno i tvoy vstrjecha vmjekte s tvoy djed bil vzvolnovanniy…" (1)

She rambled on until she saw the redhead lean away and nod brusquely, before relinquishing the headset back to the Chief.

"Holy shit," Takao muttered behind her.

"What the hell was that?" Kyoujiu demanded as he watched on the monitor as the three were led down another white corridor. "Why didn't you tell us earlier that you spoke Russian!"

"You didn't ask," the blond shrugged. "But you should have known. How the hell do you think I became the best without having a few languages up my sleeve?"

"I could have known this before! You could have jeopardized the mission! You could have – "

"Taken another job; shut up and survey them like you're supposed to," she deadpanned, reaching over and twisting Kyoujiu's head back to watch the screen. Max snorted and shook his head at his sister, then turned back to Takao, who was still staring at her in shocked approval.

"Hiwatari-san!" a loud, fake welcoming voice called out from down the hall. A tall man with sallow skin and oily, slicked back hair approached Kai, Miyami and Rei. Behind him, a severe looking young man with eyes as cold as Tala's followed, folder in hand. "I'm so glad you could make it. We were worrying that you would not make it past security, yes?"

The man chuckled, trying to joke, but in seeing Kai's no-nonsense expression, he cleared his throat and nodded.

"I am Boris Borcloff. Your grandfather told us you would be inspecting the company to make sure his shares were not…misplaced. Before we give you the grand tour, I must ask you…are these two really necessary?" he gestured to Rei and Miyami, who didn't move or even acknowledge that he had spoken.

"They go with me everywhere as instructed by Voltaire."

"Yes, but…" Boris looked at them suspiciously. "We can shrug them off for once, yes? It will not hurt…"

"My grandfather left me with strict instruction to be under their guard at all times. I should not 'shrug them off', as you say, because you never know. No doubt there are employees for Voltaire in this building who might want to get me in trouble. Anything you wish to say can be said in front of them, they're paid more than what they should be."

Rei and Miyami exchanged glances behind their mirrored glasses, both holding back smirks. He didn't look it, but Mikhail Hiwatari was one of the best damn actors that they had ever seen. He played the part of the spoiled grandson perfectly.

"Yes…well…if that is the case," Boris cleared his throat again. "Follow me."

They turned into a hall, leading passed many closed in offices, where through the windows they could see countless men and women hunched over desks and connected to telephone lines via headset. All were speaking rapidly, although not a word could be heard through the glass.

"Reinforced sound proof glass," Kyoujou muttered. "No doubt the entire place is built with it."

"As you know, Master Hiwatari, Biovolt is an organization that deals with international affairs – militarily based, of course," Boris explained. "We have customers worldwide, providing them with research, tactics as well as weapons, which are manufactured right here in the factory."

"But you're more than that," Kai remarked.

Boris eyes him carefully, and nodded. "True, there are certain things that must be exported from here by, er, less than legal means, but it's so well concealed by our outward face that no one even suspects."

"You're also a mercenary among the soldiers, are you not?" the slate-haired young man said as they were shown in to a research facility, eyeing the many tables with computers and other equipment. "Which ever side pays the most you export to?"

"Yes."

"This research," Kai nodded. "What is this for?"

"In this wing we're devising part of the weapons division. The workers you see in there are testing the effectiveness and risks involved in using certain chemicals in battle and not. It's part of some battle tactics and weaponry that we're designing for certain countries, like Cuba, Russia as well as parts of China."

"Countries with communist backgrounds," Kai remarked, as though noticing something odd about the weather.

"We do find that a strict communal regime does facilitate our exports," Boris admitted. "But any other political background that requires our materials and can pay the sum is welcome to our resources."

Kai nodded, as though this confirmed everything, and then looked towards the elevator at the end of the hall. "How many levels are in this building, including sub-levels?"

"Seven, sir."

The crimson-eyed young man looked up severely. "Well, then, Borcloff-san, why are you taking so long? If I intend to see the extent that our funds have further accommodated your company, we'll have to get right on it."

Boris merely nodded and made a gesture towards the elevator, to which they were followed by Miyami, Rei and the two other Russians. Miyami noticed the redhead eyeing her with interest and gritted her teeth, trying to remind herself not to screw up the mission…

(-)

"And this is our research crew," Boris said, his voice sounding many degrees less amused or cheerful as it had three hours earlier when the tour had begun. Obviously, Kai was grating on his nerves with his cold, indifferent attitude, but his nitpicking and demanding questions were murder. After the first hour, Miyami and Rei were both sure that he really _had_ been the best choice as an undercover operative, and he really _was_ annoying the hell out of everyone.

Kai could hear the voice of the new woman in his ear, commenting on everything he did and he felt ire seeping into his usual calm. They were going to have a very long talk when he got back – his thoughts were interrupted when the Chief suddenly spoke into his ear. "Okay, I see the computer mainframe. Get in there so that Rei and Miyami can initiate the data retrieval program."

Kai acquiesced silently to himself, and made a motion for Boris to open the door, which the man did in a less than gratified manner.

"And all of these researchers are to be trusted?" he asked, in the same tone as he had asked the same question already fifteen times, or at least for as many labor units that they had come across. It was always the right question to divert attention long enough for Miyami to plant the bugs and motion-censors.

"Yes sir, their backgrounds were checked and they are paid enough money not to leak to anyone. That, and we have other forms of keeping their mouths shut," Boris added the last part lowly, and at this the listening researchers seemed to type faster. Kai refrained from commenting.

_"Alright Rei, initiate stage one_," Kyoujiu ordered. Silently, as Kai distracted Boris and the others demanding what software they used and if they made sure that all the systems firewalls were all up and running, and whether they had ever had hackers or viruses infiltrate the system. As Boris quickly assured Kai of the function of everything, Rei made a motion as though to brush a spot of lint from his suit, at the same time flicking the small, timed mine that was the size of a pepper-corn somewhere into the room.

Max really outdid himself this time, he smirked to himself.

Seconds later, a horrendous crash rocked the room, and the three sped into action. Rei dove in front of Kai, as though to protect him, at the same time knocking Miyami's glasses of her eyes as she too dove downward. Cries from the researchers and computer technicians filled the room, and Boris was ordering people too and fro, at the same time apologizing to Kai, saying how this never happened before.

"I'm sure," Kai replied as he was helped to his feet by Rei and brushed himself off.

Again, Boris apologized, and then ordered the steel-eyed boy. "I want to know what happened and why, and if I don't have the cause within fifteen minutes, all of you are fired."

Miyami, in the meantime, on the pretence of picking her glasses up off the floor, placed a homing-device and yet another small, pepper-corn shaped object onto the back of the computer. Straightening up, she nodded to the others and went to stand in front of Kai again.

"You did good, bro," Chaya smirked back in the truck, clapping her brother on the shoulder. "And you too, Chief. What is that thing, anyway?"

"It's a USB drive that I had designed a few years ago," the young man replied with a complacent grin. "It's designed to look like part of the computer, but it's really there to allow us access to the company's mainframe. That way I can access security systems, building floor plans, company funds – you name it, we got it."

Chaya whistled, clearly impressed, and she wasn't the only one.

Despite the haughty glare he had directed at Boris, Kai too felt a certain impressed quality in him. The kid knew what he was doing, he'd give him that.

"Hiwatari-san, allow me to express my sincerest apologies for any damages you may have received today, as well as any misconceptions you might have gotten concerning out technology here. I assure you it is the best and – "

"It better be for what we're paying for," Kai said coolly, ignoring the blatant toadyism the man was portraying.

" – and to convince you, please allow me to extend to you the invitation to join the corporate heads and our other benefactors tomorrow evening for dinner. There is a gala being held for the company's latest software, and you will hear from many of our other customers that our equipment and exports are first rate."

Kai sent the man a calculating stare, although it wasn't as much for scoping him out, as it was for trying to figure out the plan now. A party? He couldn't reject it, because it would cause suspicion, but accepting the invitation would change the plan indefinitely. He quickly calculated all of the factors involved in both, and then nodded. "I accept the invitation, Borcloff-san, but see to it that nothing blows up at your party, yes?"

Rei and Miyami exchanged hurried glances. Things were rapidly changing.

Within the vehicle parked outside, Chaya swore. "Talk about mixing business with fucking pleasure."

"I'm getting the feeling you don't like him?" her twin murmured, raising an eyebrow.

"He's a damn fool, Max," Chaya snorted.

Takao laughed loudly. "Well it looks like you're going to be going out with the damned fool."

"What?" Chaya demanded, only hearing the last part of Boris' phrase.

"…and bring a date – not a hard thing for you, eh, Hiwatari-san?"

* * *

>0

YO! Another chapter out, and things are getting interesting, or so I should hope. Enjoy! R&R please!

Kuriness


	8. Chapter Eight

_Heist_

Title: Heist

Author: KuriQuinn

Rating: R (for mature language and violence)

Summary: Kai Hiwitari is tired of being his grandfathers' stooge. But the old man won't let him go without one last job, one Kai would have refused if it weren't for the ultimatum Voltaire is now holding over him. He suddenly finds himself working with a group of the least likely individuals, all in it for the same reason…

Pairings: Kai/Chaya, Ray/Miyami, slight hints of Max/Takao

* * *

>0

Chapter Eight: 

Kai loitered outside in the hotel hallway, fixing his sleeves in annoyance. He was dressed sharply in a starched white Oxford, black dinner jacket and matching black slacks, all acquired through Takao and Max's quarrel-filled choosing. He had spent an hour waiting for the two to shut the hell up and get the hell out of his hotel room, but it had just prolonged the torture. He had been perfectly capable of choosing a similar outfit in an eighth of the time it had taken them, but the minute he had even suggested it, he'd been verbally attacked by the two.

Obviously, Max wasn't as straight as Kai had first thought.

He glanced at his watch, and then growled, his eyes swiveling back to the closed door that he was facing. "Are you done in there?" he demanded lowly, although loud enough for the occupant of this room to hear him. "We're going to be late."

"Hold your horses!" the voice of the newest member of the group yelled, at the same time that the other woman's cried, "It wouldn't kill you to wait."

"No, but it will kill you if we are," he grumbled. "I don't want them suspicious of us."

He heard movement behind the door, and it was wrenched open by a very irate looking blond. "Considering I'm playing some stupid, two-cent-whore-rent-a-date, they won't bother being suspicious. Just say you had to pick me up, yeesh!"

Kai didn't reply, and even as she was marching determinedly back to Miyami, he didn't move from his place in the doorway, which resulted in the door nearly thwacking him in the face. Not that he would have noticed even if it had. A look bordering on shock had appeared on his face as he looked over the young woman before him. He had only ever seen her in that ridiculous costume she'd worn on the plane, and a pair of jeans around the work area. But now, Chaya wore a black knee-length dress for the evening, which showed off skin down to the small of her back, a flimsy tie the only thing keeping it from falling. The front of the dress was a halter, leading down into a plunging neckline that showed seductive curves beneath the material, and she wore stilettos to complete the outfit.

He snapped himself out of his perusal when Miyami began to speak. "What can I say, guys are impatient losers. Of course, the minute they're the ones making everyone late it's 'in a minute' or 'I'm coming!'" Chaya sniggered and sat down in the chair opposite Miyami, allowing the silver-haired girl to continue fixing her up. "Hey Boss-man, you just going to stand there? Sitting down in the same room as us won't make you any less masculine."

Not knowing what else to do, Kai closed the door behind him and leaned up against the wall. It was better than waiting outside, he thought with a shrug. His eyes were drawn back to Chaya again and he noticed that her skin was a different tone than usual; although she had arrived with a dark tan, Miyami seemed to have covered that up with a lot of make-up and lotions, over every piece of skin that was exposed. The girl's skin was now with an underlying tone of yellow in it, as though to give it an Asian quality.

Her face, too, he noticed.

"Ugh, I hate this color," Chaya complained as Miyami readied to apply a dark, almost brown red that didn't suit Chaya's eyes or hair, to her lips.

"Well, honey, unfortunately, you don't have a choice tonight, do you?"

The group had decided that it was easier for them for Kai to be escorting Chaya to the dinner than anyone else; Miyami would raise suspicion and bringing anyone else who wasn't in on the job was a dangerous plan. Thus, Chaya.

But although she had been chosen, the fact remained that she could not attend looking like herself, or in relation, like Max. The entire operation might fail if even the most insignificant of Voltaire's spies noticed Max Tate's sister walking the streets of Japan in such close proximity to the gang.

Hence the reasons for the elaborate make-up, the black contacts, and the slinky black and auburn highlighted wig that was lying on the vanity.

"Hey, was there something you wante – Chaya close your mouth or I'll mess up – wanted?" Miyami was eying him suspiciously from the corner of her eye.

"Just to tell you that we're going to be late," he mumbled. "Are you sure that stuff won't turn her orange or something?"

Miyami snorted and Chaya glared. "You can go now; I'm coming in a minute."

"I've learned not to trust a woman's judgment of 'a minute'."

This time both of them glared and Kai was sure that the only reason he wasn't attacked was because there was a hasty knock at the door, and then the Chief's voice, "Are you decent in there? I need to give you something!"

"Door's open, Chief!" Miyami called as she took out something that looked like a pencil and began to work on Chaya's eyes. It occurred to Kai just how much bother women made about making themselves look nice, when they looked much better without any of the beauty inducing chemicals. Personally, he didn't see the point of it, thinking it a complete waste of time.

He had noticed a few days ago that Chaya didn't wear make-up, which made her new look even stranger to him. She looked like a painted up doll.

'And amazingly, she can pull it off without looking like a hooker,' he thought, and then smirked at the irony, 'which is what she's supposed to be playing.'

The door opened and the kid walked in carrying a box about the size of a flat shoebox. His face was flushed and he kept looking at the two women doubtfully. Kai realized with amusement that he was nervous being in a woman's room. Naïve kid had probably never left his room long enough to have a relationship…

"Hey, Kyoujiu," Chaya fluttered her eyelashes, much to Miyami's annoyance as it interfered with her work. "What's up?"

"N-nothing really," he cleared his throat. "I have something for you." He noticed Kai behind him with a jump, and added, "You too."

Not making any indication that he had heard or cared, Kai watched as Kyoujiu placed the box on the vanity and opened it. Chaya and Miyami looked into it and made noises of appreciation. The blond grinned at the Chief mischievously. "Isn't it a bit early to be buying me gifts, Kyoujou? I mean, we haven't even had the first date…"

The kid turned a bright red, and muttered under his breath. "They're not real, you know, if you'd let me explain it. Kai, come over here, there's something for you too."

Without replying, Kai sauntered across the room and stopped at somewhat of a distance from the others, looking down at the box. Within it, several trinkets glittered up at him, the first one being what the girls' had obviously spotted – a diamond studded necklace with a black diamond jewel set in the bottom.

He frowned, knowing it couldn't be real. Where would the Chief have gotten such an expensive thing? Thievery was more of Chaya's forte, after all, or even Rei's. Picking it up, he looked it over.

"Uhm, Kai, that's not for you," Kyoujiu said mumbled.

"This is not real," Kai ignored the boy's words as he studied the piece. "But the craftsmanship is extraordinarily accurate. If I hadn't picked it up and looked it over, I wouldn't have known. Even at close range it's virtually impossible to tell."

"Wow, he's good-looking, he's an heir and he knows his jewelry," Chaya piped up, catching his eye and smirking. "Is there a reason you don't have a girlfriend?"

"Too busy looking good, being an heir and learning about jewelry," Kai replied absently before he could stop himself and was rewarded by a look of surprise from the other three in the room. Granted, since their initial meeting, Kai had been cold and collected, and never even responded to teasing and jibes, but that didn't mean he was a complete stiff.

Chaya was still watching him, a smirk playing on her lips and something he couldn't define in her eyes.

"Chaya? Chaya!" the blonde's head whipped around quickly to look at Kyoujiu, who had taken the necklace from Kai and was getting ready to put it around her neck. "Are you listening? Good. Okay, I had a contact of mine fix this fake with minute camera lens, which will help me guide you through everything."

"Everything? Everything what?" Chaya asked suspiciously. "This is a dinner party, not Mission Impossible."

"Well, considering I managed to complete the download of the company's floor plans this morning, and the fact that the dinner itself is being held in one of the chief conference rooms of the compound, I figured we could get the place scoped out and ready for when we pull the actual job off. Kai thought it was a good idea too when I told him."

Chaya looked briefly at Kai, and then back again. "I knew he was too good to be true. They're either gay or total assholes." She shook her head, and then frowned. "So what will we be doing?"

Kyoujiu took out a pair of earrings that looked to be made out of the same 'diamonds'. "The one on the right has a microphone hidden in it, so that I can stay in contact with you throughout the entire night. I'm going to have all of the security cameras tuned away from you thanks to a few well chosen codes, and I'll be able to see through the camera lens that was placed in the necklace." He held up the left earring. "This is something Max helped come up with. It's a little like those mini timed mines we used in the Biovolt Computer Research Lab, only much smaller and with a higher concentration of explosives, which I'll be keeping control of from here." He grinned at her. "We don't want you scratching your ear and blowing your head off by mistake, do we?"

"No, we don't, because then I'd be forced to kill you," the blond deadpanned. "Whether I was dead, or not. So: the explosive. Right, where are we putting it?"

"According to the floor plans, the basement safe where Biovolt keeps all of its valuables, i.e. new technologies, money – particularly its military plans and computer technology – is protected by another solid steel wall about fifteen feet away from it. We need to blow the wall for the actual heist, but placing the explosive will take up too much of the time I've already calculated for us. So, you're going to stash it tonight. Another reason why you have that necklace is so that Max and I can help you put it in the most inconspicuous place, but where it will do the most damage."

"Uh huh," Chaya nodded, shutting one eye as Miyami began to outline her eyes even more thick than usual. Kai only noticed then the strange shape of Chaya's eyes. Although she was blond and fair, the shape of her eyes was slightly slanted, giving off an effect of Asian eyes. Now that he thought about, Max too seemed to have this trait. (1)

'They must have Asian blood somewhere,' he decided. It was really coming in handy, and this thought was intensified when Miyami stopped fiddling with the make-up and gelled Chaya's hair back to put on the wig. If Kai hadn't watched the motion, he wouldn't have been able to tell that the black-eyed Asian beauty before him was the same blond, brown-eyed American she-devil that had appeared in the hotel little over four days ago.

"Well?" she demanded, making him start. "How do I look? I mean, considering I'm supposed to be your arm-warmer for the evening, do we match?" She struck a joking, over-dramatic pose and he rolled his eyes, still looking her over again.

"Well, let it never be said that you don't scrub up well."

She smirked pointedly at him. "Is that code for 'you're fucking hot'?"

"I wouldn't go that far," he turned around to leave, and then remembered that Kyoujou had wanted to show him something. "What did you have for me?" Kyoujiu looked confused, then remembered as well, and dug out a watch from the box. "That better not be a communicator. I refuse to run down a hall talking to my wrist."

"It's not, so don't get your panties in a bunch," Kyoujiu snapped, then seeing Kai's expression, seemed to calm down a little. "It's a decoder. It's directly linked to my PC which will get you through all the normal locking systems, thanks to the codes we got yesterday. It should help you get right up to the steel door, where Chaya will take it from there."

Kai took the watch, putting it on and studied it. It looked like a Rolex, he could see, looking carefully at the logos, the watch face and hands to ensure that they were not made from inferior metals. Whoever had counterfeited the thing had been able to successfully duplicate the automatic movements of the watch. He knew it wasn't the real eighteen karat yellow gold buckle and case with screwdown crowns, but the color and texture were very similar. Although he was sure it was fake, he couldn't help wondering how Kyoujiu had managed to get it down to such a perfect detail. "Who did you say this contact was?"

"I didn't. It's actually an old high school friend – don't worry," he saw the tense faces of everyone in the room, "I didn't tell her what the job was for, but trust me, Emily is good at what she does. She asks no questions and answers no questions."

"Ooh, Chief gots himself a girlfriend," Chaya sniggered. She looked mock saddened. "And I had such high hopes for us, Kyoujiu-chan!"

The chief blushed red to the roots of his hair and whirled around, muttering something under his breath as he left the room. Kai couldn't help the amused smirk that tugged at his lips, and nearly fell over backwards when he turned around and Chaya's face was mere inches from his own, watching him suspiciously. "Hey Yami, there's a really weird thing on Kai's face. Come here and look."

Miyami leaned in curiously, and then blinked. "Hey, yeah, you're right."

"What?" Kai asked, having a feeling he didn't want to know.

Chaya grinned. "I think it might have been the beginnings of a smile, but you never know."

"Uh huh, I've never seen one."

"Maybe it's just a stain of dirt?"

"Might be."

"If you two are finished," Kai deadpanned, glaring at the two women. "We have somewhere to be."

The recently blond-turned-auburn-brunette shook her 'hair' in annoyance and looked him over condescendingly. Then, with a practiced fake smile, she folded her hands together and bowed lowly, and speaking perfect Tokyo-dialect, told him quite pointedly, "Of course, Kai-sama, because I can be such a good, obedient whore, would you like a quickie first, or would you prefer to degrade me in public before that?"

He rolled his eyes and left the room, knowing that she was still not too impressed at the part she had to play at the moment. She had been acting like this for a while now, and he was just too used to it to care. He passed Max in the hallway, ignoring the friendly 'thumbs-up' sign the other young man sent him as he stalked to his room to grab the invitation Boris had given him the previous day.

He heard the door of the girls' room close and Max say, "Now Chaya, I know you don't want me to remind you to be careful, but…"

The door closed and with it, Kai felt a pain in his chest. Remembering that the two were brother and sister made him think of Taryn. Was she alright? Was Voltaire at least treating her better than some detention camp detainee? He felt his muscles tense in anger. He had to get through this job, or more than Taryn's voice would be laid on the line. More than both his and hers.

The others wouldn't be pardoned easily.

* * *

>0

HEY! Okay, another chappy up! 

Kuriness 

(1) I actually have a girl in my class that is in no way Asian, but her eyes are like this. It's really, really funky 


	9. Chapter Nine

_Heist_

Title: Heist

Author: KuriQuinn

Rating: R (for mature language and violence)

Summary: Kai Hiwitari is tired of being his grandfathers' stooge. But the old man won't let him go without one last job, one Kai would have refused if it weren't for the ultimatum Voltaire is now holding over him. He suddenly finds himself working with a group of the least likely individuals, all in it for the same reason…

Pairings: Kai/Chaya, Ray/Miyami, slight hints of Max/Takao

Note: Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Nine:

"How absolutely wonderful of you to join us tonight, Mr. Hiwatari," Borcloff's oily voice was the first thing to greet the two when they entered the gala area of Biovolt. Countless elegant dressed couples filled the halls, although it was more severe looking men practically wearing much younger women on their arms than anything else. "And what a lovely lady you're escorting."

Kai noticed the loathing look that was about to appear on Chaya's voice at Boris' obvious lecherous glance, and tightened his grip on her arm to a painful degree until a perfectly fake, flirtatious smile replaced it.

"Please excuse our tardiness," Kai inclined his head slightly, his tone remaining stiff and cold. "We were…otherwise occupied."

"I can see why," Borcloff continued, his eyes lowering below Chaya's eyes. Clenching her fists, she casually leaned into Kai, draping herself over his arm and shoulder. "But never mind that…allow me to escort you both to our table. I hope you don't mind sitting with myself and the other executives."

Kai and Chaya followed, Chaya leaning closer on the pretense of snuggling into him. "If that man looks below my neck again, he's not leaving here with visual capacity."

"Shut up," he muttered out of his breath as they approached a long table. Out of ten people, the only familiar faces were of Borcloff's assistants, the two young men seated next to two women that were there for a similar purpose to that of Chaya, although they were much more scantily clad than she was.

The two were seated near the head of the table, where Borcloff was just taking his spot, as well as making the introductions to the others as to Kai's presence. Chaya was completely ignored as another fixture, while Kai shook the hands of the other executives and endorsers of the company.

"We were just discussing the terrible matter of the Dickinson theft…it occurred last Tuesday, did you hear of it?"

"Vaguely," Kai said, feigning a disinterested tone as he finally seated himself. "Something about a tremendous loss of antique property? The man lost thousands."

"Not just thousands, Mr. Hiwitari, one-point-eight million," the redheaded assistant corrected, taking a sip of wine. The cold, calm stare focused first on Kai, and then on Chaya. "Ingenious, though, as I heard the job had been pulled off within a span of two hours."

"I can't tell you that I'm surprised, Mr. – Valkov, did you say your name was?"

"Yes – "

"I can't say I'm surprised," Kai repeated nasally. "Stanley Dickinson is a fool that believes in the kindness of human beings, which is something that has long since evaporated. Maybe if he trusted a security system and not man-power, he wouldn't be in this fix."

"All of his staff was fiercely loyal though," one of the men at the table commented.

Kai snorted. "No such thing. Humanity is as far from loyal as is possible. Hence machines. Speaking of, I trust that you discovered the problem in your system?" He looked pointedly at Boris.

"Well, er, yes sir," Boris looked uncomfortable, before an oily smile appeared on his face. "It turned out to be a power-over load and a blown fuse. Nothing serious."

Chaya nearly laughed out loud, and had to pretend to drop her napkin. Evidently, they hadn't discovered the shell of the explosive, or the bug Miyami had put into the computer. Borcloff was merely lying to keep Kai from knowing anything.

"_Okay, Chaya, it's time to put the plan into action," _Kyoujou's voice said. "_We have to move quickly."_

Leaning back up and placing her napkin in her empty plate, she grabbed for her purse and shifted closer to Kai, almost to the point that her lips brushed his ear. "Show time."

She stood, allowing him to cover for her by explaining she needed to powder her nose. She knew better than to excuse herself. Arm-women weren't supposed to have voices.

Kai watched her disappear warily, although outwardly he made it look as though he was following her with his eyes…To his annoyance, he found that he wasn't much pretending. He felt his fists clench when one of the men at the end of the table caught her by the wrist and pulled her close, the other hand winding around her waist. "He must be paying a lot to get a looker like you."

If she blew this…!

She giggled loudly, and gently pried herself out of his grip. "Maybe if you paid me what he did, you'd get me too…"

She sauntered away, stopping only it seemed to ask for directions, before disappearing behind one of the walls.

Kai relaxed and returned to the conversation, listening absently to what these idiots were going on about this time. But focusing pointedly on where Chaya had gone. He had disliked this particular part of the plan, considering it made him seem like some perverted, womanizing rich-boy, but the others had agreed that it added to the convincing persona he had managed to concoct for the Biovolt inspection, and if it got the job done…

"If you'll excuse me," he said flatly, standing abruptly, his eyes not leaving the spot where she had gone.

"Of course," Borcloff said, an understanding tone in his voice. He said something to the other people seated around the table, and they laughed loudly. Kai ignored them, following the direction his partner had gone in, weaving in between the waiters and other guests as he tried to reach his destination.

She was waiting for him outside the bathrooms, which held a large mirror between them with chintz sitting chairs. She was making a show of carefully reapplying her make-up, and when she saw him, she smirked, clapped her compact together and turned around. "So, do they all think you're a horny beast now?"

"Let's get going," he ordered.

"Right," she rolled her eyes, pausing for a second. "Okay, the Chief's gonna walk us through this, so try to keep up, okay sunshine?"

Careful to sneak into the security area without any of the guests seeing them, the two slipped past the reception area back into the facility part of Biovolt. The white walls were a brilliant contrast to the smoky dimness of the reception galleria.

"Okay, be very careful," Kyoujou said. "I've already hacked into the video cables, so when I give the signal the surveillance will be turned off and you guys will be the invisible, er, couple."

"Very funny, Chief," Chaya murmured.

"You have a maximum of eighteen minutes to pull this off," their partner informed them.

Kai scoffed. "What can you accomplish in eighteen minutes?"

"Stealing thirty-five super-microchips, each worth one million dollars," Chaya replied easily. Kai sent her a look and she grinned sheepishly. "And change."

If he was hoping to reply to that, he was cut off, when Kyoujiu's voice called out 'Go!' and they were suddenly bursting through the doors into the facility wing of Biovolt, sticking close to the walls should their be a night watchman on duty. The cameras in each corner of the hallways seemed dead, but the two thieves knew that they were feeding a tape of blank footage to the security office.

"Go all the way down the hall…unlock the door…take the elevator…"

"Whoever invented pantyhose should be shot," Chaya complained, earning yet another quelling glance at the back of her head from Kai. He had no idea how she managed to boast about being he greatest cat burglar around when she couldn't shut up long enough to actually pull off a caper.

Kyoujiu's voice echoed in monotony, once in a while breaking the pattern by calling out that there was a security guard nearby and they needed to be quiet or shift to the side, down an abandoned hallway. Kai's decoding watch sent them past all of the coded locks, inputting data and the hacked passwords from Kyoujiu's PC.

They finally made it to the steel elevator that would take them down to the sublevel. There was silence in the elevator as it moved downward, the cold enclosure lacking even the elevator music that usually played in normal lifts. Kai and Chaya didn't look at each other, Kai staring stonily at the doors as though expecting someone to jump out in front of them and Chaya toying with the necklace-cam.

"Could you not do that, Chaya, I can't see," Kyoujiu's voice complained. She dropped the necklace immediately.

The doors sprang open, showing off a long narrow catwalk, walled in with the same sterile white walls as the five floors above. At the end, a steel door loomed, an ID panel lock right next to it as well as a voice box.

"Voice recognition?" Chaya murmured. "That's going to be pretty tricky."

"That's why we'll be blowing it tomorrow," Kyoujiu reminded her impatiently. "And then Kai will take out the vault behind it. Take out your earring now – and be careful! There are enough explosives in there to blow through a five-foot-thick vault door."

"I'm so glad that I'm wearing it so close to my brain then, it'll be a quick death," Chaya retorted. Kai glared again, annoyed that she was being so cavalier during such a precarious operation.

Carefully undoing the fake earring, she finally held it in her hands and waited expectantly for Kyoujiu to tell her where to place it. Through his own earphone, Kai could hear the sound of another pair of earphones being put on, and the American's brother's voice coming on.

"Alright Chays, this should be pretty simple provided you don't blow yourself up."

"Shut up and tell me where to put it already, or I'll start using my imagination," she snapped. Kai couldn't hold back the smirk tugging at his lips.

"One second, we're scanning the door for any discrepancies in the density. If we can't find one we'll have to stick it in a corner or something."

There was a minute of silence while Kai and Chaya waited for their new directions. Both were conscious of the time slipping away. Kai glanced at his watch, angrily noticing that they only had six minutes left, both to plant the device and then return before their absence was missed. He heard a sudden exclamation from both young men on the other side of the earphone.

"Alright Chaya, carefully place the mechanism to your left, right near the crack between the door and the wall…a little more…a little more…up now…okay, there. Be careful not crush it or put it too deep into the crack, or when they open it it'll blow. We need it to stay intact until tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah – you know, you'd think you guys thought I was incapable of pulling of a job…"

"Four minutes," Kai reminded them.

"It's set," Chaya announced, straightening up and dusting off her dress as though she had just pulled off some kind of major operation.

"Good – now get back to the party!"

'No need to tell us twice,' Kai thought dimly as he and Chaya hurried back down the cat-walk and into the elevator. The ride back up to the party seemed different to Kai. His stomach lurched, although not from being sick. He wondered about it being excitement or nerves, but pushed those thoughts away, sure that these were not the cause of the knots in his stomach.

Looking over to see whether his companion had noticed anything, he found himself staring at her longer than the second he had been planning on. She seemed to notice and cocked her head to one side, an amused grin on her face. "What's up?"

"Your disguise is slipping," he replied, not missing a beat. It was true, even though he had only just noticed her wig beginning to reveal the golden hair beneath it as she was asking the question. It had been a slim escape.

"Oh," she said, and then frowned. "Well, can you do something about it? I can't see a damned thing."

He shrugged, leaning closer to quickly adjust the wig over her head, burying her natural hair color beneath it for the time being. He paused as he pulled back his hand, the scent of peaches surrounding him for a moment. She was staring back at him curiously and for a moment he had the distinct feeling that he should _say_ something, never mind what.

The elevator door sprang open, putting an end to whatever strange phenomena Kai was suffering from. Without a word the two thieves slipped away, continuing up the private corridors, slowly getting closer to the reception area. Every now and then Kyoujiu warned them of a wayward walking guard, but other than that their return passed in silence.

The exit from the facility entrance way was harder then expected, mostly because they had to watch out for any guests that might be looking around from the reception area. Kyoujiu was watching the doors, waiting to inform them of an opportune moment to go in when it happened.

"Oh no, guys, that Ivanov guy is headed your way. If you're going to get out, do it now or this entire thing is shit-baked!"

Kai didn't waste any time in pulling Chaya through the door and around the corner, so hard that he nearly crushed her up against the wall. However, that didn't seem to help them get any further back to the rest rooms where they had meant to 'meet up'.

"Guys, he's getting closer…" Kyoujiu almost whined, his voice higher than before with obvious nervous worry.

Although she had looked like she wanted to shout at him for the rather violent treatment moments before, now she was looking at him calculatingly before hissing, "Follow my lead."

"What lead?" he hissed back, but was cut off when he suddenly felt her fists grab hold of his shirt and a soft pair of lips crushing against his own. His natural reaction to her force was to fight back, pushing her into the wall – which in hindsight didn't seem that bad of an idea.

Even though the kiss was for show, more of an act for passersby, he couldn't help but be drawn into the impatient, demanding embrace from his partner. He had no choice but to open his mouth when she nipped at his lips and steered the kiss towards a more heated act than it had originally been meant for. The smell of peaches was overwhelming him again and he tightened his grip around her waist, a voice at the back of his mind trying to remind him that this was a plan of diversion, not something he should look too deep into. He could feel her body beneath the thin garment she wore and noticed his body reacting accordingly.

A part of him was actually thankful for the rather embarrassed cough that sounded to their right. Pulling away and manufacturing an angry look (which he realized a moment later wasn't all that much of an act) he raised an eyebrow at the redheaded assistant. "Yes?"

"We were…wondering where you had gone, that's all," Ivanov said, eying Chaya beadily. Kai noticed out of the corner of his eye how her makeup was smudged and her dress a little out of place. He wondered what he must look like. "But…I can see that, er…" He cleared his throat and looked away. "I shall inform Borcloff-san that you will return to the table shortly."

"You do that," Kai continued, his voice as cold and calm as it had always been.

The minute Ivanov was out of ear shot, he turned to his partner and glared. He felt ashamed and embarrassed for a moment at having been pulled into such a ploy and having to play like he didn't care that his reputation was being decimated by the second. Chaya didn't look any worse for the wear, in fact she looked bright eyed and cunning; more so than usual. And she was smirking at him in an annoying, self-satisfied air that made him feel like he had just handed over the canary to a very intelligent cat.

"If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'll kill you," he told her simply. When she raised her eyebrow, though, he added, "but thanks."

She smiled widely, as though he had just given her a huge compliment.

"I don't get it – what happened?" Kyoujiu's voice demanded shrilly in their ears. "The camera was blocked, and –"

"Sheesh, Chief, are you blind or just dumb?" Max's voice interrupted, sounding highly amused despite his disgust with the other young man.

The band was just winding down another number as the two headed back to their table, and Rei's voice suddenly came on the intercom. "Soooo, when did this fine thing start out, huh? Were you guys planning on telling us at any time?"

Chaya sent Kai a glance from the corner of her eye. "Can I hurt them?"

He grunted and turned away. "Be my guest."

* * *

Well, there we go. A nice bit of sap to my fans for such a long absence from this fic. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.

For update news and the like, check out my homepage - if you leave a comment, leave your email with you so that i can get back to you...and check out Child Soldiers! I worked hard on it! > 

R & R,

Kuri


	10. Chapter Ten

_**Heist**_

Title: Heist

Author: KuriQuinn

Rating: R (for mature language and violence)

Summary: Kai Hiwitari is tired of being his grandfathers' stooge. But the old man won't let him go without one last job, one Kai would have refused if it weren't for the ultimatum Voltaire is now holding over him. He suddenly finds himself working with a group of the least likely individuals, all in it for the same reason…

Pairings: Kai/Chaya, Ray/Miyami, slight hints of Max/Takao

Note: This is the unedited version; once I send it to my beta (Flash) and my, ahem, editor (Mags), it should be better edited. And in about a month the entire fic Heist should be re-edited. However, unlike my other fics where I changed the story line, this one will remain the same and it's only grammar and spelling that I'll be changing. So you don't have to go backand read it unless you have a craving for good grammar.

Note: Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Ten: 

"Alright, he's within radar," Kyoujiu said quietly, squinting at the screen of his computer. His expression was set in a frown of concentration and sweat beaded on his forehead. A little blip on the monitor was moving nearer to the center of the screen, obviously indicating that it was coming closer to where the entire group was holed up.

"Are you tracking him through the GPS in his phone?" Chaya inquired, her voice hushed and breathy, as though she was waiting for something to happen.

The auburn haired teenager nodded, typing in a few commands. In a small window in the corner of the screen, a map of the surrounding area popped up, showing meticulous street lines and addresses. A moving triangle, looking very much like the satellite maps in the central processing unit of a car, traveling closer to their location every minute or two.

Miyami grumbled, sounding agitated. "Come on Chief. Don't screw this up."

"Hey, lay off," the kid snapped. "As if I don't have enough pressure, you're – "

"Just ignored her and get back on track," Takao ordered. He reached forward, grabbing the headphones off of Kyoujiu's head and earning an annoyed cry from the genius. He ignored him, jamming them on and barking into the microphone, "Hey Kon, hurry it up, we don't have all night."

"I'm working on it, Takao, unlike someone who decided they'd rather stay in the safe little hotel room instead of volunteering for this," the breathless and irritated tones of the Chinese member of the team shot back. The blip on the screen stopped moving and Chaya and Miyami exchanged strained glances. "You know, the next time you guys ask me to do something, I'm going to make sure that it's – "

A bout of static cut off the call, before leaving a dead tone beeping loudly through the headset on Takao's head. He sent a panicked look at Kyoujiu. "He's gone – get him back online."

"I'll try," Kyoujiu's voice was laced with determination. Yanking his headset from Takao and putting it on again, he frantically typed in a few commands, his fingers flying so quickly across the keyboard it was almost impossible to see where they landed. "There's a lot of interference with the signal."

"You can do it Kyoujiu, hurry," Chaya ordered, running her hand through her hair nervously.

"I can't get him, there's something blocking it!"

"Is he moving?"

They all scanned the map, which showed no more movement from the blip that was supposed to signify Rei. It remained in the same position for a full three minutes; there was nothing but static from the headphones.

"Should we go in?" Miyami suggested. "Because I'll go, if that's what – "

"No, we don't need to put more people than possible on this little operation," Kyoujiu quipped, eyes never leaving the monitor as his fingers typed ceaselessly. "Everything will be fine, you guys will see, it's going to be – "

There was a loud knock at the door, causing the group of people clustered around the laptop in the large hotel suite to fall into silence, each looking at one another in turn. When there was no response, there was another knock, louder this time and joined with an irritated voice. "Hello? Are you guys going to come to the door anytime soon? This stuff's getting a little heavy…"

The group nodded to one another, before motioning for Takao to get up. The Japanese man stood, casting glances all around, and then walking to the door slowly and deliberately. There was a tense silence in the air.

"Make sure he's alone," Miyami reminded him quietly. He nodded, without turning around.

His teammates silent as he approached the door, he looked out the peephole in the middle of the door; then, nodding as if he was satisfied with something, he opened it a crack. From behind him, the others could just make out Rei's dark hair and narrowed amber eyes.

"We lost contact with you – what happened?"

"What, you think I'd take the stairs?" Rei deadpanned. "You have serious delusions, you know that? I took the elevator, you nimrod."

Takao regarded him for a moment and then nodded, unbolting the door another inch. He looked down and then grinned winningly at Rei. "So, you did get the stuff."

"Dude, I'm not stupid enough to come back here without it," Rei rolled his eyes, but his tone suggested amusement. "You guys would kill me!" Takao opened the door completely, revealing Rei standing in the hotel hallway, holding up two eight packs of beer and three large boxes of pizza.

There was a loud scuffle and a few cries of , 'Finally!' and 'I thought I was going to die!' from the group, and within moments Rei was stripped of his burdens and being dragged into the hotel room.

As the group of thieves began to dig into their second helping of pizza and beer, Kai, who had been silent on the couch during the whole scene, sighed and looked at the ceiling, almost as if it could tell him the mysteries of the universe. "You are all a bunch of morons."

"Aw, come on, we were desperate," Chaya chuckled as she finished her first slice of pizza and started on the second. "Even you have to be hungry, Hiwatari."

"Hn."

"You'd better appreciate my efforts, I had to walk a block to find a decent Pizza Hut," Rei complained. "Everywhere else was serving cheap knock-off pizzas."

"How can you knock-off a pizza?" Miyami wondered, digging into the vegetarian, thin crust that she had ordered. She was looking at Rei, the look on her face suggesting she found him insane yet entertaining at the same time. "Do they have those little _'Made in Japan'_ brands on them or something?"

"Hey, you never know with the food around here," the Chinese man snorted, helping himself to a can of beer.

"I'm going to bed," Kai grunted finally, already standing. "If anyone wants me, I'll be in my quarters prepping for tomorrow."

And without waiting for anyone to respond, he stood up, crossed the room and hauled open the door. His accommodations were located three rooms down the hall from the one that Kyoujiu slept in. Everyone had gathered at the youngest member's place after they finished up at the warehouse earlier that day. And then Miyami had had the bright idea to get pizza, while Chaya had decided on the inept course of following Rei's journey on the computer. Making such stupid use of all of the Chief's equipment made Kai once again wonder what he was doing with such a team of losers.

He barely registered himself flipping out the keycard and entering his suite, nor did he bother with taking off his clothes or boots, before he fell over on his bed face first. For a few long minutes he wondered if he should try to smother himself or maybe jump out of the window, just to spare everyone the agony of going through the next day.

Of course, even without him the others would probably go ahead with the job – they still wanted to get at Voltaire with a fiery passion, and even without Kai they would still have Chaya. It would still be six people and it would still be someone who had the basic know-how of opening safes. It occurred to him that maybe he should practice or go over combinations or methods in his head, but it just made the jumpy feeling in his stomach worse.

Whatever would be the next day would be and he wouldn't be able to change it even if he wanted to. He just had to accept it and hope that there were no unpredictable factors involved.

The door creaked open and he jumped up so fast that he actually managed to scrape his nose on the rough comforter of his bed. Immediately, so as not to be caught in such a casual stance, he straightened and stood up; when he realized that it was only Chaya, holding onto two beers as she slipped into his room, he relaxed to some extent. Eyes narrowing at the intruder, he challenged, "How did you get in here?"

"Tricks of the trade – if I tell you that, I'll have to kill you," she said seriously, but there was a twinkle in her eyes. "I don't think any of us wants that."

Kai wasn't impressed. "I left the room so I wouldn't have to deal with you all – if you don't mind, we have an important day tomorrow, I'd like to get some sleep."

"Hm," she pursed her lips and to his chagrin, she didn't leave. Instead she walked over, letting the door click shut on its own, placed the two bottles of beer on the night table next to his bed and then practically tossed herself down onto the mattress with a careless abandon that made Kai's frown even more pronounced. She was looking at him knowingly and he didn't like it. "So you wouldn't have to deal with us or just me?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" he snapped, something irrational at the back of his mind feeding his annoyance and defensiveness.

Chaya just laughed and reached over to open up the beer. After a second's hesitation she held it out to him, gesturing to the top that was still stuck to the rim of the bottle. After a second of studying her, he reached for it and popped it open easily before handing it back. She beamed at him before taking a drink and then leaned further into one of the pillows, regarding him with amusement. After another second she remarked, "You know, you're not the only one here with something to lose."

"I know that," he replied.

"Yeah, but you know only to a certain extent," she replied, taking another swig of the liquid. "Did you ever ask any of them why they were here, sacrificing first their reputations and then their lives to get back at Voltaire?" He sent her a look and she snorted. "I didn't think so. You're too good for that, right, Hiwatari?"

"If you came here to pick a fight, you've sorely mistaken the mood I'm in," he told her coldly. "If you have nothing better to do, leave my room."

"Hmm…technically not your room, it's the hotel's room," she told him brazenly, stretching. He watched her loose clothing pulled taut across her figure and had to concentrate on not looking too much into how shapely she was underneath the bulky sweater. "And sure I have better things to do, but here I thought I'd be a nice person and make sure you actually took a load off, had a beer, stopped thinking about tomorrow – but you're intent on being a grump, so maybe just bugging you like you expect me to do is a more suitable course."

"Get out," he ordered, half-heartedly jabbing his right hand towards the door.

She lay back down on the bed and peered at him keenly. And then in a low and meaningful voice she suddenly spoke again. The humor was gone from her voice and now she spoke in a low, hard drone. "Bai Huan, China – population four-hundred and thirteen. Hometown of one Kon Rei, son of the village head, and scheduled for liquidation should Rei fail to do every task put before him by Voltaire Oreskovic."

Kai tensed but refused to look away from the steady gaze.

"The Kinomiya clan, large and well-to-do, a family with ties to the government and currently working very hard in the medicinal field to cure several diseases including cancer, AIDS and diabetes," she continued levelly. "Voltaire plans to do away with the family completely, but not prior to buying out all of the research and their company's shares before either selling off their research to the highest bidder or keeping it for himself and making people beg for the cures to their diseases."

She took another sip of beer and then sat up, all the while glowering over at him. "Hagoshimi Kyoujiu – well-known hacker who is currently being sought by the police and faces three twenty-year sentences for obstruction of justice, web sabotage and monetary fraud. He should be hiding out somewhere and instead, he's been located by Voltaire, who is threatening to hand him over to the police if he doesn't do as he's asked. Max Tate – former military explosives expert, served eight years in the military and as a specials op. for the States. Son of the former American ambassador to Japan who is also a strong proponent against warfare – the first one in US history, if you wanted to know – Voltaire has threatened to have his family killed if he doesn't comply."

She finally stood up and put her hands on her hips. "So does that mean anything to you, Mr. Hiwatari? That you're not the only person here that's in it for someone else's sake?" She could evidently see the drawn look on his face, because her own expression softened into the unabashed, jovial one that she usually wore. "I took the liberty of checking up on everyone considering you didn't and I doubt you were going to."

"I already knew that they stood to lose something," Kai said coolly.

"But you didn't know exactly what," she told him. "And you still act as though you have more to lose than anyone. Which you really don't."

"Don't talk to me about loss, you have nothing to – "

"Don't forget, Hiwatari, Max is my twin," she retorted crisply, her eyes darkening again with the hard, dangerous look in her eyes. "You might understand this feeling in relation to your sister – if it came to my family, especially Max, I would commit murder."

The earnestness in her voice made him balk inwardly, however he forced himself to remain in control of the situation. Calmly he stated, "You weren't even meant to be here."

"No, I wasn't," Chaya said sincerely. "But I'm here now and I'm one of the group – and I'm also going to play whatever part I can to keep everyone out of trouble. So you can stop being a goddamned asshole any time now and accept the fact that we're all equals here."

He glared at her and for a long time there was only silence in the room where the two criminals regarded each other warily.

"What's your real reason for being here?" Kai demanded flatly. "I have a feeling it's not just to lecture me and guilt me into conforming to your idea of what a team leader should be."

She smirked and finally stood up, slowly walking over to him. There was a half-smile on her face as she regarded him. It was almost frightening how fast the atmosphere in the room changed and he swallowed unconsciously.

"Very intelligent, Hiwatari, you're right, although lecturing you was fun." She was standing inches away from him and then slung her arms around his neck, pressing into him. Kai felt like doubling over in shock. For her to come on to him like this, although not completely unthinkable, was the last thing he had ever pictured this particular woman to do; and at such a precarious moment in their plans as well. Actually, now that he thought about it, it was exactly the type of thing someone like her might do.

She was smirking coyly at him now, lust glinting in her eyes. Unable to look away from her for a second, he was appalled to recognize that his own feelings mirrored what he could see in her expression. "I already told you I haven't been laid in four months – and it was just my overwhelming sense of pride that kept me from going after one of the schmucks in the jail."

He glared down at her. "And you think I'm just going to calmly go along with your need for a quick screw?"

Her smile widened. "Calm? I hope not."

Alarm bells were going off inside his head, increasing to a deafening volume when one of her hands trailed down his chest. Her grin never faded. Every professional bone in his body was reminding him at the fact that one should never get involved in ones work. He had already told himself he would not allow himself to become attached to any of his teammates taking into account how they were all so close to one another in the first place.

Struggling to remain in control but desperate not to show any of this, he coolly remonstrated, "The way you're acting one would think you're not so very far from the slut you were portraying at dinner yesterday."

"Ah, but you see, there's a difference between a slut and between me," she told him teasingly, her gaze holding his own challengingly. With her roaming hand she had begun to undo the button of his shirt collar and it was distracting his resolve to remain aloof.

'Just push her away, you fool,' he subconscious commanded. It seemed, however, his body was moving on its own accord, because he was speaking without even thinking. "Really."

"Mmhm," Chaya replied playfully, undoing another button. "See, sluts sleep with whoever pays them enough money or whoever gets chosen for them by their bosses. Me, I do the choosing."

"So I'm to believe I'm some kind of honored choice," he managed to keep his voice level and bitingly polite, a slight interest, edging on boredom. His pulse had quickened and he was finding it hard to breath. She had undone another button and the tips of her fingers brushed the skin of his chest; whether by accident or design, he wasn't sure, but noticed that it was having the undesired effect of making his breath hitch.

"Pretty much."

"Any particular reason?"

She smiled smugly and paused in her work on his shirt. "Other than the fact that four months of celibacy does horrible things to ones standards and that you're the only one here worth screwing who's not in a relationship or related to me?"

He made a face at her. She'd caught him. He had almost sounded eager just now and she had just been fooling around. Damn that manipulative woman!

"Well I'm afraid your going to be disappointed," he declared coldly, reaching up and pulling her hands away from him, roughly tossing them away from him. He barely registered the mix of anger and hurt twinge through her eyes as he turned his back on her and headed for his door. He had a feeling she would be stubborn if he tried to make her leave and had no qualms about doing so himself. "I have to go look over the files again and find something worth blackmail for Voltai – "

With more strength than he would have given her credit for he found himself pulled around and his face dragged downward in a rough kiss. Nails scraped his neck and cheeks as she pulled him close, ravaging his mouth determinedly. His back hit the door and as though by reflex, his arms were at her hips and waist. He couldn't breath – not that it would matter considering she had swept her tongue into his mouth roughly, nipping his lips and teeth – and could hear his pulse thundering in his ears. This was _not_ in the plan!

She pulled away, and to his horror, instead of letting her go, his body was moving on auto-pilot, dragging her back into his embrace and capturing her lips again, pulling her closer. She buried her hands in his hair, scraping his scalp almost painfully but it didn't do anything but heighten the explosive sensation that was bubbling up inside him.

She broke away from his mouth and trailed open-mouthed kisses up his jaw line, nibbling at his ear when she came in contact with it. He was pushing her back towards the bed, tasting the flesh of her neck desperately. When was the last time he had…?

"You…didn't let me finish," she was reminding him, a laugh in her voice between playful bites to his ear. He wasn't so focused on her words any more, at least not as focused as he was on hefting her legs up on either side of him and roughly pushing her down on the bed. "I chose you…because not only do you look like you need a good lay – " she bit his neck and then returned to work on his ear, " – and don't expect emotional attachment –" he blinked at this, having forgotten about his resolution briefly, " – but you're fucking hot."

He didn't know what to say to that and finally settled on aggressively kissing her back. She had taken the lead for too long and there was some unwritten law in Kai's mind that he would not be dominated, and by this sorry excuse for a cat burglar no less.

The files retreated to some forgotten part of his mind, which in retrospect, was probably where they belonged.

* * *

Short chapter, chocked full of Kai/Chaya goodness. I was going to do a lemon or some kind of citrus but you know what? It would cheapen the story and I have to be in a specific mood to write one or else it would be horrible and I wouldn't want to subject my betas to such horrible writing, considering we all hate bad citrus.

So there.

Enjoy my little filler chapter here as a gift and because I'm in such a good mood for finishing school.

R & R,

Kuri


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